President Joe Biden‘s advanced age is a major sore point heading into the upcoming election. And the 81 year-old’s recent spate of public gaffes are raising more concerns.
Both experts and voters have voiced concern over Biden’s series of odd ‘freezing’ incidents over the past week.
Most recently, the president’s face and body appeared to freeze on stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles. Biden stopped moving after his speech, staring blankly over the crowd for several seconds.
But a White House representative dismissed reports of a frozen reaction to DailyMail.com as ‘fakes’ and ‘lies,’ explaining his reaction was simply ‘taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds.’
The episode comes less than a week after POTUS seemed to also freeze at a Juneteenth White House celebration during a concert featuring gospel singer Kirk Franklin.
He was seen staring blankly ahead as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him. In a speech at the event, he also seemed to slur his words.
Just days before the Los Angeles incident, while attending the G7 summit in Italy, another video showed the president wandering off, walking away from other world leaders while watching a skydiving demonstration and giving a thumbs up in the opposite direction.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni then approached Biden and directed him back to the group.
The president’s team said this video did not show there were other skydiving demonstrators above the leaders in another direction, which is what Biden turned his attention to.
The White House has regularly batted away criticism and maintained Biden is in top shape, both physically and mentally, and will be able to effectively serve another term until 2028 — when he would reach 86 years old.
In February, the results of his annual physical were released and revealed there were ‘no new concerns’ about his health.
The report detailed several medical conditions the president has, including sleep apnea, acid reflux, an irregular heartbeat, high cholesterol, seasonal allergies, arthritis and nerve damage in his feet.
It also listed out medications he is on to treat those conditions, including one blood thinner that lists confusion as a side effect.
But now, experts speculate his freezing could be a sign of a handful of a serious condition.
A Los Angeles-based doctor said: ‘Frozen, masked faces, diminished arm swing, less frequent blinking, [are] likely due to a central neurological disorder like Parkinson’s.’
President Joe Biden attends a flags ceremony and skydiving display during the G7 where he appeared to wander off
The plastic surgeon, Dr Sheila Nazarian — who is a Trump supporter — continued in a tweet: ‘If this was just a normal, elderly person, I would not post about it. However, perceived weakness in our commander in chief is a national security threat. It affects us all.
‘Right now, we need a leader who exudes power and strength… We need to bring back excellence, merit, and love for America. We need to reign in all this craziness.’
Commenting on neurodegenerative disorders in general and not specifically on the president’s condition, Dr Ziad Nasreddine, a neurologist who invented the gold-standard cognitive test, previously told DailyMail.com slurred speech is seen in Parkinson’s — which affects levels of brain hormones that are involved in movement.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in older adults after Alzheimer’s.
While the public may speculate, Biden nor anyone on his team have ever proposed or confirmed he has Parkinson’s.
More than 90,000 people in the US are diagnosed with the condition every year, most of who are men over 60.
While symptoms such as tremors are well known, Parkinson’s disease can also cause stiffness and problems with moving the limbs and face, as well as slurred speech.
It is also known to cause cognitive impairment — affecting memory, concentration and even mood.
Symptoms of the disease worsen with time and there is no cure. The disease itself is not fatal, but patients can die from complications of it, such as pneumonia, heart disease, falls, choking or urinary tract infections.
Rare genetic changes could be behind Parkinson’s, as well as exposure to toxins, but experts are still unsure of the cause.
Former President Barack Obama was seen giving Biden’s arm a gentle tug and leading him off the stage after the president froze during the applause at a fundraiser in Los Angeles
Biden speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday before a video showed him appearing to freeze and being led off stage by Obama
Aside from the physical side effects of the disease, Parkinson’s can also lead to thinking difficulties and cognitive problems, as well as depressi