Lord Help Us: Biden Needs a Really Detailed Cheat Sheet With World Leaders

During an Oval Office meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani, observers noticed President Joe Biden holding an extremely detailed crib sheet to get through the meeting.

And when I say detailed, I mean detailed.

"Biden, 81, turned to the script — which included an all-caps stage direction on when to pause in his comments to allow for an interpreter to translate — to make his first public statement since Iran launched an unprecedented direct missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend," noted the New York Post. "The president glanced down at his script repeatedly as he sat beside Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani."

It's worth noting that Al-Sudani didn't rely on any script or crib sheet during his remarks after Biden's.

Biden cheat sheet for Iraq PM meeting caught on camera — including instructions to ‘pause’ https://t.co/WJ950tZRiO pic.twitter.com/ix4qwll3PX
— New York Post (@nypost) April 15, 2024

It was a truly embarrassing display, as he kept his cheat sheet on his lap as he read from it, staring at his knee as he slurred his way through the staged event.

He also fumbled with his watch while Al-Sudani spoke and then appeared to fall asleep.

Biden is playing with his watch while the Iraqi prime minister speaks pic.twitter.com/CteRSaLqBC
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 15, 2024

Biden has been known to rely on note cards and cheat sheets in the past, and he's even been using them for private events. He has even read the stage directions from those cards out loud.

"President Biden has been using notecards in closed-door fundraisers, calling on prescreened donors and then consulting his notes to provide detailed answers, according to people familiar with the routine,” Axios reported in February. "Why it matters: Biden's reliance on notecards to help explain his own policy positions — on questions he knows are coming — is raising concerns among some donors about Biden's age."

Polls have shown for a long time now that voters are concerned about Biden's age and cognitive decline and that this concern is hurting his campaign. The White House refuses to acknowledge these issues publicly, but it's evident that Biden's inner circle is keenly aware that he needs careful direction to adhere strictly to prepared scripts and avoid unvetted questions from the press.

Last month, after relying heavily on notecards at a White House event, reporters started asking him questions, and Biden went blank because he couldn't depend on his script to get him through it. Then he infamously started mumbling about how he couldn't answer questions or else he'd "get into trouble."

“I have a lot of questions. I better not start the questions. I’ll get in trouble,” Biden said.