Keir Starmer has said that he doesn’t believe that the US leader is “senile”
Newly appointed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has brushed aside concerns over US President Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, praising his behavior during a bilateral meeting in Washington, DC.
The leaders met at the White House on Wednesday and discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as trade and climate change.
When asked later by the BBC if he thought that Biden “is senile,” Starmer replied: “No.”
“We had a really good bilateral [meeting] yesterday. We were billed at 45 minutes [but] we went on for the better part of an hour. We went through a huge number of issues at pace,” the prime minister said. He added that Biden “was actually [in] really good form, and absolutely across all the details.”
The conversation was productive, Starmer said, adding that Biden “showed incredible leadership.”
Biden made a particularly baffling gaffe the very next day, when he introduced Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to an audience of supporters as “President Putin.” The leaders of NATO countries and the EU, as well as Zelensky himself, were sharing a stage with Biden when he mixed him up with the president of Russia.
Later on Thursday, Biden had more verbal slip-ups during his press conference. At one time, he confused his own vice president, Kamala Harris, with his main reelection rival, former President Donald Trump.
Starmer dismissed concerns about Biden’s health once again on Thursday, saying that he “deserves credit” for hosting the NATO summit in Washington. “I would urge everyone to look at the substance of what’s been achieved over these two days,” he said.
Biden has been facing increased public scrutiny after his disastrous televised debate with Trump last month when he appeared confused on stage and struggled to finish his sentences.
Multiple Democratic Party politicians and major campaign donors, as well as leading US media outlets and Hollywood celebrities, urged Biden to end his reelection campaign and allow the party to choose a replacement candidate. Biden has refused to step down, insisting that he is most qualified to beat Trump in November.
