As President Joe Biden struggles to assure voters that his mental cognition isn’t impaired, conservatives are now setting their sights on his potential replacement. A video of Vice President Kamala Harris on a Marine helicopter is being used to claim she was unresponsive and zoned out, mimicking claims about Biden over the past months.
While Biden’s mental decline is apparent, conservatives exaggerated and imagined numerous moments involving the president, including repeated accusations that the commander-in-chief defecated his pants in public.
Following Biden’s disastrous performance at last month’s presidential debate, in which he repeatedly trailed off and struggled to finish sentences, opponents of the 81-year-old are shifting these tactics to his potential replacements.
In an article on Monday, the conspiratorial blog The Gateway Pundit questioned whether Harris was “OK” after she was filmed aboard a helicopter at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday, claiming the video showed her “zoning out.”
The video comes from C-SPAN and shows Harris departing Air Force Two and heading to a Marine helicopter to return home after a trip to New Orleans.
There is no sound, and the video is shot from a distance, but the blog went as far as to claim that Harris was more or less “unresponsive” when approached by an aide.
“While an aide sat near her, Harris appeared almost unresponsive as the helicopter prepared to take her to the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C.,” the blog wrote.
The blog further described Harris as “listless” while apparently “opening her eyes and slowly moving her head a few times.”
“Oh no, now Kamala has a cold too,” one X user said, referencing Biden’s explanation for his debate struggles.
“Is dementia contagious?” someone else asked.
But despite the effort to frame Harris’ behavior as unusual and potentially connected to cognitive issues, many conservatives had other theories.
Many argued that Harris was likely stoned from either marijuana or Xanax.
“Kamala is a stoner just like Hunter Biden,” one commenter said.
“Her xanax hit…..Period…” another added, highlighting a frequent but unspecified and unevidenced claim about Harris’ use of the medication.
Others claimed that Harris was instead merely turning the cold shoulder and ignoring her aide due to her “entitlement.”
“The level of entitlement of these people is disgusting,” one blog reader said.
“She’s … lazy, stupid, entitled, living it up on taxpayer money,” a separate user said.
Although Democrats are fighting over whether the president should bow out of the race, Biden appears committed to staying in. Harris, for her part, has spoken openly about standing by Biden.
But it’s not the only recent misleading claim surrounding air travel and the White House.
Just this weekend, far-right commentator Laura Loomer tried to ignite a conspiracy theory of her own after claiming that Biden had suffered a “medical emergency” while aboard Air Force One. Loomer’s claim was quickly debunked when Biden was seen walking to a vehicle after landing in Delaware.
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