JOE BIDEN’S ENDURING DECEPTIONS. As far as the press are concerned, Joe Biden has been the least accessible president in memory. There’s a reason for that. It’s been clear for a long time that the 82-year-old Biden is not mentally and physically up to the job. After it became politically safe for Democratic-supporting media outlets to report his infirmities — that was after his disastrous June 27, 2024, debate performance against President-elect Donald Trump — we learned that Biden’s staff went to great lengths to keep him away from the press. For whatever reason, many reporters happily steered clear of questioning the president’s condition.

An outgoing president often conducts final interviews with media outlets. Biden chose to do just one, with USA Today’s Susan Page. And three embarrassing blunders — or were they deceptions, or self-deceptions? — show why Biden’s aides have kept him away from interviews for so long.