President Joe Biden canceled an early evening meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the last minute, citing the need to go to bed, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The meeting, which took place during the G7 summit in June 2022, was intended to be an informal gathering to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Two unnamed sources present at the event told the Journal that Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden’s absence, explaining that the president needed to rest.
The report indicated that Chancellor Scholz and his aides were taken aback by Biden’s absence and Blinken’s unexpected appearance. A spokesperson for the State Department denied the report, while another official claimed that the White House had informed participants in advance that Biden would not be attending. Business Insider was unable to verify the details or the specific reason for Biden needing to rest, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Axios has previously reported that Biden operates most effectively between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and struggles to function outside that timeframe. The Wall Street Journal noted that the White House has consistently reduced Biden’s daily schedule and shielded him from impromptu meetings. Both CNN and The New York Times have reported that Biden told governors he needed more sleep and should avoid holding events after 8 p.m. The White House has not responded to these claims.
This incident follows a challenging debate against Donald Trump, which was marked by verbal gaffes and confusing statements. In a taped interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden dismissed questions about his competence as a presidential candidate, stating he would step aside only if the “Lord Almighty” asked him to. High-profile Democratic Party donors have expressed concerns about Biden’s mental acuity. Abigail Disney, Walt Disney’s grandniece and a longtime Democratic donor, announced she would halt donations to the party until Biden makes way for a replacement at the top of the ticket.
Biden now faces intense scrutiny as he heads into NATO’s summit this week, which is intended to solidify the strategy for the Ukraine crisis and discuss the shifting China-Russia dynamic. A summit of this stature would normally not be an issue for Biden, who formerly served as the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Now, it will serve as a public test of his mental sharpness and ability to run against Trump in the upcoming elections. Alliance leaders will be hosted by Biden in Washington for three days of discussions and public activities, culminating in a solo press conference on the afternoon of July 11th.
The State Department has disputed the Wall Street Journal’s report, claiming that President Biden did not skip the meeting to catch some sleep. The WSJ reported that Germany had arranged a meeting between Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Schloss Elmau resort in Bavaria following the June 2022 G7 summit. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is alleged to have arrived without Biden to that early evening lounge meeting and announced that the president would not be attending because he had to go to bed, according to two sources speaking to the WSJ.
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment on the alleged incident. “That is absolutely not accurate,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “Secretary Blinken never said that or anything like it.” The State Department gave an identical statement to the WSJ in the original report. A source familiar with the 2022 meeting described the lounge gathering as informal and said Biden was never expected to attend.
Blinken has defended Biden in the weeks following his disastrous performance against former President Trump at the first presidential debate. Speaking at a Brookings Institute event on July 1, Blinken claimed worldwide observers would not be dissuaded from supporting Biden due to his confused demeanor during the debate. “They’ve seen a president who’s reinvested America, reinvested America in the world, reinvested in these alliances, in these partnerships in ways that they seek and want,” Blinken said. He added that “confidence in American leadership has gone up dramatically” over the course of Biden’s term in the Oval Office.
President Joe Biden reportedly skipped a meeting with world leaders — which was intentionally set up “in the early evening” — shortly after the war in Ukraine erupted because he needed to “go to bed.” The startling revelation raises serious concerns about Biden’s ability to manage crises beyond the 6-hour schedule he keeps – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — which also includes naps. The Wall Street Journal reported that German officials sought to meet with Biden in June 2022, just a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine, along with other world leaders during the annual G7 Summit.
German officials were “aware of Biden’s fatigue at night” and decided to accommodate the president by holding a “confidential” meeting about the war in Ukraine “in the early evening” so that he could attend. However, Biden never showed up. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended instead “and announced that Biden had to go to bed,” according to the report that cited multiple sources. The WSJ report highlighted how Biden aides “have aggressively stage-managed” the 81-year-old president’s mental and physical decline over the last two years, including micromanaging all of his public appearances, blocking him from impromptu remarks with reporters, declining halftime interviews during the last two Super Bowls, limiting his travel because he didn’t have “the stamina,” creating barriers to block reporters from being able to ask Biden questions, and blasting music at events so that no one hears reporter’s questions.
A former top Biden adviser told the publication they were stunned by how much Biden had declined when they met with the president last summer, saying that the situation was “not good.” One Democratic donor told the publication that when they saw Biden earlier this year, it was clear that he had “lost a step” as he struggled to speak at an event in South Florida. At a fundraiser in New York last year, donors were reportedly “stuck by how fragile (Biden) seemed.” Biden couldn’t remember the word “veteran” and had to ask the audience for help coming up with the word that referred to someone who had served in the military.
The report noted that Biden used to engage with reporters frequently as a senator and vice president but started cutting off the media’s access to him during his presidency, to the point where he has held fewer press conferences and interviews than any other president in modern history.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Axios, CNN, The New York Times, Fox News Digital
