On stage, the Democratic president, then aged 81, appeared confused, mincing his words, and getting confused on several subjects in front of Donald Trump.
Former US first lady Jill Biden said in an interview excerpt released on Wednesday that she had been “Ephraimée” at the time of the debate in 2024 for the presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and having thought at that time that her husband was having a stroke. On stage, the Democratic president, then aged 81, appeared confused, mincing his words, and getting confused on several subjects in front of Donald Trump.
“I was scared because I had never seen Joe like that before or since.”declared Jill Biden in this extract published by the CBS News channel, before the full broadcast of the interview on Sunday. “I don’t know what happened”she added, before specifying: “As I was watching this, I thought: “Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.”and that scared me.»
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“I don’t have a serious problemâ€
Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race a few weeks after this debate, amid concerns about his state of health and his cognitive abilities. “I was really, really having a bad day during that debate because I was sick, but I don’t have a serious problem.” health, he said a short time later, referring to a cold. His wife also defended his performance, saying at a campaign event a few hours after the debate: “Joe, you did a great job. You answered all the questions, you knew all the facts.”
After the abandonment of Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate for the presidential election, but failed to win against the Republican billionaire. The American Democratic Party published a report on Thursday on the causes of this defeat, but the long-awaited document turned out to be incomplete and not offering definitive conclusions. Notably, the nearly 200-page post-mortem does not mention the question of Joe Biden’s age when he ran for re-election. Since leaving the White House, Joe Biden, now 83 years old, has been diagnosed in 2025 with a form «agressive» of prostate cancer with «métastases osseuses».
