Joe Rogan mocked a New York Times op-ed from earlier this year in which the author wrote that President Joe Biden’s aging was actually part of his “style” and that he had “something in common with Beethoven, Wagner and Martin Scorsese.”
“Oh, OK. I feel better now,” Rogan, the Spotify podcaster who hosts “The Joe Rogan Experience,” sarcastically wrote in an X post on Thursday which included a screenshot of a March 8 commentary piece by literary critic A.O. Scott.
“For Joe Biden, What Seems Like Age Might Instead Be Style,” the headline of Scott’s piece read.
In the essay, Scott argued that Biden’s apparent signs of cognitive decline should instead be looked at as a “late style” similar to that of “certain artists” who “at the end of their careers, enter a new and distinctive phase of creativity.”
Scott referenced several individuals who produced “a succession of masterpieces” that “fulfill and transcend the promise of the earlier work” including Richard Wagner, Henry James, Scorsese and Ludwig van Beethoven.
“Politics is not art. But it is a craft, a vocation, and not many people have practiced it as long or as devotedly as Biden,” Scott wrote.
The essay was written following Biden’s most recent State of the Union address in March, during which the president read from a teleprompter and sought to play down concerns that he was mentally slipping.
But Biden’s performance at last week’s first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump — during which he appeared to lose his train of thought several times and had difficulty articulating his ideas — ignited panic among Democrats who now concede that he may be too old to win a second term in office.
Since the debate last week, several media reports have surfaced quoting people who have interacted in person with the president who say that he often forgets their names and appears confused.
The reports have also sparked anger at the news media for failing to aggressively cover these concerns in the months leading up to last week’s debate.
The Post has sought comment from the Times and Scott.
The Times earlier this week published a story headlined: “Biden’s Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome.”
In the story, the Times cited on-background statements from current and former officials who say that the president has “increasingly appeared confused or listless” and that he “would lose the thread of conversations.”
Last month, the Times published a news story titled “How Misleading Videos Are Trailing Biden as He Battles Age Doubts.”
The story ran in response to videos which showed Biden appearing to wander off as he and other world leaders watched a skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in Italy.
NEWS CREDIT
