Several vulnerable House Democrats representing swing districts held intimate meetings with former president Joe Biden at the White House during the same timeframe his senior aides were hard at work concealing his rapidly deteriorating mental acuity from the public. Most of those Democrats had nothing to say about Biden’s fitness to serve—even after his disastrous debate performance.
That includes Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D., Texas), who participated in three meetings with Biden at the White House in 2023 and 2024, including an eight-person meeting with the former president on June 4, 2024, archived visitor logs show. Biden’s rapidly deteriorating mental acuity was evident to the public and became impossible for the Democratic Party to ignore following his disastrous debate performance in late June. But Gonzalez told a different story to the public following his intimate meetings with the president.
Gonzalez praised Biden’s mental acuity in a Feb. 2024 statement, saying the former president “still seems pretty sharp and focused on the task of the day.” And later, in July, Gonzalez attacked the first House Democrat to call on Biden to drop his reelection bid, saying it was “ironic” that the elderly Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D., Texas) had lost faith in Biden’s fitness to serve following his debate against Trump.
“We have a 77-year-old asking an 81-year-old not to run,” said Gonzalez, who represents a toss-up district in southern Texas. “I really believe folks are jumping the gun.”
The White House visitor logs—which show that 10 House Democrats in competitive districts attended meetings with Biden alongside fewer than 50 other attendees—have renewed significance as the Democratic Party and its media allies face a reckoning over their handling of Biden’s mental decline. That reckoning intensified over the weekend following the release of audio of Biden’s October 2023 interviews with special counsel Robert Hur, showing the former president slurring his words and struggling to recall basic details about formative events in his life—including the year his son died. And on Sunday, Biden’s personal office announced the former president was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer.
Several doctors have questioned the timing of Biden’s Gleason grade 9 cancer diagnosis. Yale radiology professor Howard Forman said Sunday it was “inconceivable” that Biden’s doctors wouldn’t have detected the cancer while he was in office.
“Gleason grade 9 would have had an elevated PSA level for some time before this diagnosis. And he must have had a PSA test numerous times before,” Forman posted on X. “This is odd.”
Gonzalez’s office did not return a request for comment. He wasn’t the only vulnerable House Democrat to hold intimate meetings with Biden at the White House.
Rep. Donald Davis (D., N.C.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on March 28, 2023 (2 attendees).
- Called Biden’s debate performance a “disaster” on July 2, 2024, but didn’t call on the president to step aside. “It’s not my job to have the president step out,” Davis said. “But if he’s going to stay in, he needs to step up.”
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Patrick Ryan (D., N.Y.)
- Forcibly defended Biden in Feb. 2022 following the release of the Hur report, calling it “total bullshit” and a “political hack job.”
- Met with Biden at the White House on May 6, 2024 (4 attendees).
- Called on Biden to step aside after the debate on July 10, 2024, urging him to fulfill his 2020 promise to be a “bridge” to the next generation.
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Frank Mrvan (D., Ind.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on Dec. 8, 2022 (6 attendees), and March 1, 2023 (22 attendees).
- Issued no statements about Biden’s mental fitness before the debate.
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D., Nev.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on May 9, 2024 (31 attendees), and May 23, 2024 (23 attendees).
- Horsford issued a statement standing by Biden on July 8, 2024: “President Joe Biden is the nominee and has been selected by millions of voters across this country, including voters here in Nevada.”
- Horsford appeared on CNN on July 8, 2024, and accused Biden’s critics of being rooted in “ageism” and “ableism.”
- What he says now: did not return request for comment.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D., Fla.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on May 20, 2024 (27 attendees).
- August 13, 2023, post on X: “He looks great, better than me.”
- May 26, 2024: said on Fox News Sunday replacing Biden was “not a conversation worth having … this is ridiculous. We’re well past that conversation.”
- After the debate, on July 17, 2024: said on CNN he was “concerned” that Biden’s circle was keeping him in a bubble but said it was up to Biden to decide whether or not to step aside.
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Darren Soto (D., Fla.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on May 6, 2024 (29 attendees).
- July 11, 2024: told The Ledger that he stood by Biden. “I support President Biden as our nominee … He had a tough first debate and now must take the time to show the American people he is still up for the challenge. I have my confidence he will.”
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Emilia Sykes (D., Ohio)
- Met with Biden at the White House on Oct. 11, 2023 (31 attendees).
- What she said then: Did not offer any public statements about Biden’s fitness to serve.
- What she says now: did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Dina Titus (D., Nev.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on May 6, 2024 (29 attendees).
- February 9, 2024: Told CNN that Biden “is very sharp, very well respected … If I felt somebody wasn’t competent, I wouldn’t want them with their finger on the button. And I certainly don’t think that about Joe Biden.”
- July 21, 2024: Praised Biden after he dropped out for choosing “to put the interests of this nation above himself. That is the essence of a great President.”
- What she says now: Did not return a request for comment.
Rep. Gabriel Vasquez (D., N.M.)
- Met with Biden at the White House on October 18, 2023 (42 attendees).
- Called on Biden to step aside on July 19, 2024. Praised Biden as an “honorable public servant” but said Biden should step aside to give Democrats the best opportunity to win in November.
- What he says now: did not return a request for comment.
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