It has been clear for some time that President Biden’s cognitive functions are slipping. He has always had a sloppy memory — and has always exaggerated events, fudged details, and told stories that were simply not true.

Mr. Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1987 ended when it became clear he had stolen an entire speech from the British Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock. 

Mr. Biden enthusiastically and theatrically explained his childhood and coping with poverty, when in fact he had copied Mr. Kinnock’s personal story about growing up in a Welsh coal mining village. 

It was either an act of plagiarism or stupidity. In those days, it was unacceptable for politicians to openly lie about things, so Mr. Biden dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination.

Mr. Biden’s behavior now zig-zags from acceptable, if not brilliant, performances to embarrassing disasters. It is not clear what explains the gap in his capability. 

Certainly, Mr. Biden seemed reasonably competent and in control during his State of the Union Address. It may have taken a lot of practice, sleep, and strong medications, but the effect was impressive.

However, Mr. Biden’s recent visit to Detroit to speak to the Naacp dinner was just the opposite. In fact, he made so many mistakes the White House had to issue a correction document. 

Clear, in-line edits acknowledged that America’s president, commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation in the world, had made at least 10 glaring errors.

Some of the mistakes were minor. Some were obvious and inexplicable.

I recently discussed some of these gaffs with Larry Kudlow on his show on Fox Business. 

Throughout the speech, Mr. Biden fumbled words, saying “inspiresing” instead of “inspiring,” and “irrectionists” instead of “insurrectionists.” 

If these were the only gaffes, they could be chalked up to understandable fatigue that comes from being president. But they weren’t the only gaffes.

The one that struck me most was Mr. Biden explaining “and when I was Vice President, things were kind of bad during the pandemic” — corrected by the White House to “recession” — “and what happened was Barack said to me, ‘Go to Detroit and help fix it.’”   

The White House correction at least made sense of something which was otherwise incomprehensible. Mr. Biden’s confusion about when he was Vice President fits some of the confusion in his interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur, when Mr. Biden reportedly forgot in which year he served his various government roles.

In Detroit, Mr. Biden then went on to confuse the reason he was there, saying “I’m humbled to receive this organization,” when he meant to say “award.”

Occasionally, Mr. Biden’s enthusiasm would lead him to add zeroes to figures.

“I protected and expanded the Affordable Care Act, saving millions of families $800,000 in prem- — $8,000 in — a year in premiums.” The corrected transcript reported that he meant to say $800.

There’s a bit of a difference between $800,000, $8,000, and $800.

 Sometimes he referred to things he never accomplished.

“And I will not stop until I once again am able to ban assault weapons in America.” Of course, there is no “once again,” because it has never been done — despite the federal attempt to do so between 1994 and 2004. 

Mr. Biden’s verbal slips and mental confusion would matter less if his policies were working — but they are not.

Bidenflation is the No. 1 issue for most Americans, and they see Mr. Biden as a failure in stopping inflation.

America’s Southern border is clearly out of control, and people blame Mr. Biden.

With the open borders, there is a huge influx of fentanyl and other drugs. This has spurred an enormous surge in drug-related deaths (twice as many Americans die from drug overdoses annually as died in the entire eight years of the Vietnam War).

So, Mr. Biden seems incompetent and cognitively adrift — and his administration seems to be failing on every front.

The Gallup Poll reported that Mr. Biden had a 38 percent job approval rating for the first quarter of 2024. This is the lowest approval rating Gallup has reported for a first-term president since it began tracking the metric under President Dwight Eisenhower. 

As Gallup put it, “With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent.”

 Mr. Biden can’t remember, can’t articulate, and can’t execute policies that work — but he is the current leader of the free world.

It’s more than a little frightening.