Tech magnate Elon Musk weighed in on the US presidential race on his X social media platform Friday amid ongoing controversy over President Joe Biden’s age and mental acuity.
“Quick update on how things are going with the election:” wrote user Chris Bakke, posting a link to New York Times opinion writer Ross Douthat’s editorial “Does America Need a President?”
“Real question … since we obviously haven’t had one for a while,” responded Musk, quoting the user.
Douthat’s column contemplates Biden’s role in the White House and the interplay of the US president’s power and influence with that of cabinet members, advisors and political allies. The opinion writer has previously insisted Biden should be replaced, arguing it would be “incredibly dangerous” for him to fill the role of chief executive for another four years.
Various US presidents have governed with differing degrees of mental incapacity historically. President Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke in 1919, leaving his wife and physician to assist in running the White House for the remaining 16 months of his second term.
Observers have speculated about the degree to which former President Ronald Reagan suffered mental decline during his second term in office. The president was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease five years after leaving the White House in 1994.
“As of 1984, Reagan was sometimes incoherent, but he had – how to say it? – good days and bad days,” wrote Slate columnist Tom Scocca. “But this was “well known” already. In 1984, people agreed not to say that the president sometimes seemed senile.”
“Reagan had to be given a script by someone else before making a short phone call,” Scocca notes.
The Cold War president, who previously held the title of America’s oldest commander-in-chief, was 77 years old when he left office in 1989. Current President Joe Biden was 78 years old when taking office, meaning Biden was older when he entered the White House than the previous oldest president was when he left.
“After Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a physician, asked Mr. Biden questions about the status of his health, Mr. Biden replied that his health was fine,” wrote the New York Times Thursday, describing a White House meeting of the president with several Democratic Party governors.
“‘It’s just my brain,’ he added, according to three people familiar with what took place – a remark that some in the room took as a joke… But at least one governor did not, and was puzzled by it.”