# Does Biden have early on set dementia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933 "2020-03-04T18:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/41 "2020-03-05T06:01:51Z")
Biden has slowed down compared to 8 years back but there is no point throwing around words like “dementia” without hard evidence. Overall I think he meets the basic threshold for handling the job though his age is obviously a worry. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/42 "2020-03-05T06:55:42Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This is nothing compared to Trumps constant, deliberate bullshit and lies. I think Trump actually BELIEVES some of the stupid shit he says. Trump has never taken a moment in his entire life to consider an opinion that did not somehow form in his… brain. > > If you had to rent a property too, or from a person. Who would you trust? Trump or Biden? Quick–you can either eat a huge steaming pile of hyena shit or a huge steaming pile of wolverine shit, which do you choose? The one thing pretty much everyone figures about Trump is that he’s flailing around and doesn’t have the faintest fucking clue what he’s doing but that he’ll sign whatever’s put in front of him. Which would lead any intelligent person to wonder who’s in charge and setting the agenda. Does any sane person really believe that having wambly dementia Joe in place, flailing around without the faintest fucking clue of what he’s doing but who can still sign whatever’s in front of him is going to make the SLIGHTEST FUCKING DIFFERENCE? The ones actually doing the shitty minimal level of work that’s currently being accomplished won’t even need to change their fucking offices, they just install a brand new useless moron figurehead and it’s just bidness as usual. So Joe grabs titties and sniffs people rather than having Trump yelling insults and tweeting–I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the faintest ray of improvement in this scenario. Allowing the gargoyles to continue being in charge of the cathedral is not an option so far as I’m concerned and I assure you I will not be voting for Biden if he’s the Dem candidate, nor will I vote for the current useless shit flinging monkey that’s already in place. No steaming piles of shit will I volunteer to eat, not ever. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/43 "2020-03-05T07:22:50Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Quick–you can either eat a huge steaming pile of hyena shit or a huge steaming pile of wolverine shit, which do you choose? > > The one thing pretty much everyone figures about Trump is that he’s flailing around and doesn’t have the faintest fucking clue what he’s doing but that he’ll sign whatever’s put in front of him. Which would lead any intelligent person to wonder who’s in charge and setting the agenda. Does any sane person really believe that having wambly dementia Joe in place, flailing around without the faintest fucking clue of what he’s doing but who can still sign whatever’s in front of him is going to make the SLIGHTEST FUCKING DIFFERENCE? The ones actually doing the shitty minimal level of work that’s currently being accomplished won’t even need to change their fucking offices, they just install a brand new useless moron figurehead and it’s just bidness as usual. So Joe grabs titties and sniffs people rather than having Trump yelling insults and tweeting–I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the faintest ray of improvement in this scenario. Allowing the gargoyles to continue being in charge of the cathedral is not an option so far as I’m concerned and I assure you I will not be voting for Biden if he’s the Dem candidate, nor will I vote for the current useless shit flinging monkey that’s already in place. No steaming piles of shit will I volunteer to eat, not ever. Where to start with something like this? I’ll start at the top with your statements about Trump. You state that any minimally intelligent person would ask who’s doing the actual work. The answer is obvious and it’s equally obvious that they wouldn’t be the same people doing that work under a Biden administration. Stephen Miller, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, etc. will not be a part of a Biden administration. Neither would corrupt officials like AG Barr and the other members of the cabinet. In case you haven’t noticed, Trump has purged all kinds of people in various departments who were doing good work. Their only flaw was that they were loyal to the United Stated rather than to Trump as an individual. Biden would likely bring those people back. It would not be the same people, not be the same agenda, and definitely not be the same outcome. Out of curiosity, do you believe the same for the past? If so, who were these same people doing that work under Obama? ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/44 "2020-03-05T09:02:27Z")
At least Biden has an excuse for brain damage (near fatal bleeding aneurysm). What’s Trump’s excuse? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/45 "2020-03-05T11:56:24Z")
I’m astounded by the people who feel they need to mention they’d vote for Biden over Trump, even if demented. Duuuh. When hamburger and dogshit are the only items on the menu you don’t order the dogshit just because the ketchup on the burger isn’t your favorite brand. I just watched Chris Christie on the Stephen Colbert show. Christie thought the slip of “million” for “thousand” was a big deal. :smack: What a joke. The only good news was that Christie, just minutes from the New Jersey heartland, got about zero applause when he walked on stage. I’d like those complaining about Biden’s verbal gaffes, to give their opinions on [Trump speech (diagnosed as schizophrenic)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybitHLhb0yw) like this: > [@Donald J. Trump](#): > > Look, having nuclear my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, okay, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world it’s true! but when you’re a conservative Republican they try oh, do they do a number that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right who would have thought?), but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners now it used to be three, now it’s four but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/46 "2020-03-05T12:42:50Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Quick–you can either eat a huge steaming pile of hyena shit or a huge steaming pile of wolverine shit, which do you choose? > > The one thing pretty much everyone figures about Trump is that he’s flailing around and doesn’t have the faintest fucking clue what he’s doing but that he’ll sign whatever’s put in front of him. Which would lead any intelligent person to wonder who’s in charge and setting the agenda. Does any sane person really believe that having wambly dementia Joe in place, flailing around without the faintest fucking clue of what he’s doing but who can still sign whatever’s in front of him is going to make the SLIGHTEST FUCKING DIFFERENCE? The ones actually doing the shitty minimal level of work that’s currently being accomplished won’t even need to change their fucking offices, they just install a brand new useless moron figurehead and it’s just bidness as usual. So Joe grabs titties and sniffs people rather than having Trump yelling insults and tweeting–I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the faintest ray of improvement in this scenario. Allowing the gargoyles to continue being in charge of the cathedral is not an option so far as I’m concerned and I assure you I will not be voting for Biden if he’s the Dem candidate, nor will I vote for the current useless shit flinging monkey that’s already in place. No steaming piles of shit will I volunteer to eat, not ever. Curious: would you vote for Biden if he let Sanders pick the VP? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/47 "2020-03-05T13:26:19Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > At least Biden has an excuse for brain damage (near fatal bleeding aneurysm). What’s Trump’s excuse? Syphilis? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/48 "2020-03-05T13:56:04Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Biden has slowed down compared to 8 years back but there is no point throwing around words like “dementia” without hard evidence. Overall I think he meets the basic threshold for handling the job though his age is obviously a worry. I think he would have won over a Trump 8 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/49 "2020-03-05T14:27:41Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You think Jill Biden or the Obamas would let Joe embarrass himself on the national stage in this way? The only way anyone could prevent Joe from running for president would be to have committed. No one is “letting” him embarrass himself, but he does it just the same. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/50 "2020-03-05T14:27:45Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Biden has a history of verbal gaffes; it’s part of his charm that he’s a plain spoken, regular blue collar guy, not your usual polished politician. While I like Biden and find his un-politicianlike candor refreshing, let’s not paint him as something he’s not- he’s got a BA and a JD from reputable universities, and has spent his entire career as a lawyer (1969-1973), a Senator (1973-2016), or a professor (2017-2020- a sinecure, I don’t doubt). Anyway, he may be atypically plain spoken for a politician, but blue collar he is not, and never has been. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/51 "2020-03-05T14:33:30Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Probably not. > > But GOPers weaponizing this attack is bullshit given Trump is much worse. Trump can’t complete a sentence or even read off the teleprompter without slurring his words. He’s in his element at rallies when his base allow him to wonder from one thing to another. Go watch that video of him ranting about toilets and how people flush 10 or 15 times before immediately moving onto dishwashers and back to corrupt democrats. > > Oh and George W Bush. > > “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice…can’t get fooled again” > > Of course Biden is a bit of a fool. But his presidency will feature competent democrats and Obama era officials. A semblance of calm. But isn’t that just proof that GWB definitely _didn’t_ have dementia, he was just dumb and bad at words? If he had dementia back then, then it would have been impossible to hide by now. If Biden now is more coherent than GWB back then, it’s plausible that he’s also just bad at words (as his past speeches have amply attested), not that it’s dementia. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/52 "2020-03-05T14:49:48Z")
One, as Rob Reiner or the guy interviewing him said about I don’t know what because I’m ADD and can’t be expected to pay attention to every damn thing on MSNBC, “There’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” Or senile and bumbly. Two, based on one commercial break this morning, Obama has endorsed both Sanders and Biden. Three, is there a happy middle between polished (artificial) and folksy (bumbly)? ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/53 "2020-03-05T17:31:39Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > I think he would have won over a Trump 8 years ago. I’m not so sure, I did/do think Biden would have been labeled as _a third Obama term/more of the same_ and that would have been a handicap in the _change/do something-anything_ atmosphere of 2016. It would have put Obama in a difficult position: does he endorse his Vice President or his former Secretary of State? Or say something like “I respect both candidates and want to see the process play out and will endorse the candidate who wins our party’s convention”? ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/54 "2020-03-05T18:13:51Z")
Yes, he is senile af and I feel uncomfortable and cringey listening to him him speak. Watching him potentially debate Trump in the future I honestly feel embarrassed for him in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/55 "2020-03-05T18:26:27Z")
Joe has never been eloquent. He has also never run for president before and managed the associated pressure and distraction. It is absolutely not surprising to me that a person of even average would lose his train of thought under the circumstances under which he as spoken publicly. That has fuck all to do with how well his noodle actually works when he is in a comfortable environment without someone waiting to gainsay his every word before it’s even past his lips. Jesus’ tits, he isn’t my first choice either but I’m really getting tired of people making shit up about him in the absence of any other real problems. Besides, even if he were getting soft in the head, so what? This loon can scream at that loon for 60 minutes and America can begin to feel as ashamed as it ought to for allowing either of them anywhere near the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/56 "2020-03-05T18:44:19Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > No idea. But if he did, all he would have to say in his defense is that he doesn’t need to be dementia free, he just needs to have a lower level of dementia than Donald Trump. God I love our two party system. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/57 "2020-03-05T19:06:37Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > But isn’t that just proof that GWB definitely _didn’t_ have dementia, he was just dumb and bad at words? If he had dementia back then, then it would have been impossible to hide by now. > > If Biden now is more coherent than GWB back then, it’s plausible that he’s also just bad at words (as his past speeches have amply attested), not that it’s dementia. Couple that with his lifelong attempts to get over his stuttering and that seems right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/58 "2020-03-05T19:13:01Z")
He looks pretty good compared to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![weizer2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbce88/32.png) [@weizer2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weizer2)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/59 "2020-03-05T20:56:50Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You think Jill Biden or the Obamas would let Joe embarrass himself on the national stage in this way? > > What’s delusional is to think that they would. Then why hasn’t Obama endorsed Biden? Obama wants nothing to do with that shit show. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933/60 "2020-03-05T21:42:01Z")
My grandma has dementia, but she was MUCH sharper than he was at 77… Biden has always been a gaffer (and plagiarist) and this will only be highlighted because of YouTube, etc., if he is the nominee. He’s been saying a lot of stupid stuff, doing a lot of stupid stuff (sniffing, touching), even bullying those who say they’d vote for him in the general. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-biden-have-early-on-set-dementia/848933.md?page=4)