{"id":2431008,"date":"2025-05-05T13:11:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T17:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-obama-aide-says-he-had-real-concerns-about-biden-but-was-still-ok-with-him-being-in-charge\/"},"modified":"2025-05-05T13:12:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T17:12:50","slug":"ex-obama-aide-says-he-had-real-concerns-about-biden-but-was-still-ok-with-him-being-in-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-obama-aide-says-he-had-real-concerns-about-biden-but-was-still-ok-with-him-being-in-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Obama Aide Says He &#8216;Had Real Concerns&#8217; About Biden \u2014 But Was Still OK with Him Being in Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fex-obama-aide-says-he-had-real-concerns-about-biden-but-was-still-ok-with-him-being-in-charge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2431008&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In early April 2024, dan Pfeiffer, a former aide to President Obama, observed signs of cognitive decline in President Joe Biden during the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner weekend. while attending a reception, pfeiffer noted that Biden repeated himself and seemed diminished in his capacities, a stark contrast to their previous interactions before the election, where Biden appeared sharp. Although he expressed concerns about Biden&#8217;s ability to govern for another four years, Pfeiffer did not believe that Biden was incapable of performing presidential duties. He initially attributed Biden&#8217;s performance to the event&#8217;s context, thinking the unusual circumstances might have affected his communication.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion was prompted by Biden&#8217;s mental fitness,which has been a topic of concern since his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-campaign-selling-dark-brandon-t-shirts-as-merchandise-for-reelection-bid\/\" title=\"Biden campaign selling &#039;Dark Brandon&#039; T-shirts as merchandise for re... bid\">previous presidential campaign<\/a>. Despite acknowledgment of cognitive lapses, especially from Republican critics, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >mainstream media outlets ofen downplayed<\/a> these worries. A report from Special Counsel Robert Hur cited instances of Biden&#8217;s memory issues but did not result in charges against him, suggesting the public&#8217;s perception of him as a sympathetic character affected legal proceedings.In the political landscape, discussions intensified, especially after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/for-biden-the-debate-stakes-couldnt-be-higher-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"For Biden, the debate stakes couldn\u2019t be higher - Washington Examiner\">poor debate performance<\/a>, leading to speculation about Kamala Harris stepping in as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Former Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday that he noticed former President Joe Biden showing cognitive decline in April 2024 &mdash; but had no qualms about him holding the highest office in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Axios&rsquo;s Alex Thompson criticized journalists, including himself, for not seeing Biden&rsquo;s decline earlier during his April 26 White House Correspondents&rsquo; Dinner acceptance speech for an award for his coverage on the topic. On his podcast &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fJ8Kvc71W6E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pod Save America<\/a>,&rdquo; Pfeiffer recalled attending a White House reception during WHCD weekend 2024, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/no-george-clooney-dont-get-retcon-joe-bidens-legacy-make-look-better\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden<\/a> repeated himself and appeared diminished.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fJ8Kvc71W6E?si=uo63VZI107iSbrLV\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;He called me right before the election, and I talked to him for like five, 10 minutes, and he was great. And I interviewed him before the election, and he was totally fine &hellip; not even a question there,&rdquo; Pfeiffer said. &ldquo;And I had talked to a bunch of people who had gone to work on the campaign, who had told me, &lsquo;He&rsquo;s great.&rsquo; Then we get to the White House, and I didn&rsquo;t see him again until White House Correspondents&rsquo; Dinner weekend 2024.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was at a White House reception, and he was bad. He was quite bad in it. And he told the same story twice. He just seemed mostly old,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;In no way did I look at that and say, &lsquo;That man cannot do the job of president.&rsquo; I had real concerns that he could not do it for four more years.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Pfeiffer also said he was worried that Biden would have issues running his 2024 re-election campaign. He said he brushed off Biden&rsquo;s apparent decline at the White House reception at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I also thought to myself, &lsquo;Well, it&rsquo;s Friday. This is a super bizarre event, the night before the White House Correspondents&rsquo; Dinner,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew he was coming from speech prep and going back to speech prep on a Friday evening. Even [former President] Barack Obama was not a great communicator on a Friday evening.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I trusted the people who I talked to, who said he was fine. And I also believed &mdash; and I said this at the time after the [special counsel] Robert Hur report came out is &mdash; that if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rfk-drops-bombshell-hhs-became-collaborator-child-trafficking-biden-hunt-300000-missing-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden<\/a> really was having these mental lapses all over town, everyone would know it,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Hur issued a February 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/storage\/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a> showing evidence that Biden willfully retained classified documents. However, the special counsel chose not to bring charges against the then-president because a jury potentially would have viewed him as &ldquo;a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/03\/12\/joe-biden-beau-death-robert-hur-classified-documents-special-counsel-transcript\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">transcript<\/a> of Hur&rsquo;s interview with Biden revealed memory lapses, including seeming to forget when he began and ended his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donald-trump-the-bidens-got-rich-while-americans-got-robbed\/\" title=\"Donald Trump: &#039;The Bidens Got Rich While Americans Got Robbed&#039;\">vice presidency<\/a> and the date of his late son Beau&rsquo;s death.<\/p>\n<p>While voters were long concerned regarding Biden&rsquo;s mental fitness, and Republicans repeatedly raised doubts about it &mdash; including during the 2020 campaign &mdash; corporate media outlets consistently downplayed their legitimacy.<\/p>\n<p>However, former Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/white-house-fires-off-sizzling-response-kamala-harris-first-speech-since-election-great-reminder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kamala Harris<\/a> eventually replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee in July 2024 after his disastrous June 2024 debate performance against President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-orders-re-opening-expansion-toughest-prison-american-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dan Pfeiffer, a former aide to Obama, remarked on Sunday that he observed signs of cognitive decline in former President Joe Biden in April 2024 but did not believe it hindered his ability to serve as president. Axios&#8217;s Alex Thompson acknowledged that journalists, himself included, failed to recognize Biden&#8217;s decline sooner during his acceptance speech at the April 26 White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner. On his podcast &#8220;Pod Save America,&#8221; Pfeiffer recounted attending a White House event during the Correspondents&#8217; Dinner weekend where he noticed Biden repeating himself and appearing less sharp. He mentioned having spoken with Biden shortly before the election and found him to be fine at that time. However, upon seeing him again at the reception, Pfeiffer felt concerned about Biden\u2019s capacity for another four years in office despite initially dismissing his apparent decline due to the unusual circumstances of the event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2431009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Joe-Biden.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3620,5315,5894],"class_list":["post-2431008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-biden","tag-obama","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Joe-Biden.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2431008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431012,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431008\/revisions\/2431012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2431008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2431008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2431008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}