Biden didn’t recognize someone he knew “well,” NATO summit attendee claims

A NATO summit attendee said alliance leaders are concerned about President Joe Biden‘s re-election bid, believing he won’t win. The delegate cited worries about the president’s mental “deterioration,” and his failure to recognize someone he “knew quite well” at the conference.

In a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC‘s Katy Tur Reports, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, said the leaders he encountered don’t “think he [Biden] can serve another four years.” He told Tur that the sentiment is true across the political spectrum, regardless of political ideology, adding that “this isn’t news to them.”

Bremmer’s comments come almost two weeks after President Biden’s poor debate performance that has caused members of the Democratic party, such as Representative Lloyd Doggett, to call on the president to step aside and put another candidate on the November ticket.

The question of the U.S. presidency is on display as Biden hosts the summit marking the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington, D.C., from July 9 to July 11.

“It’s not that they don’t like him,” Bremmer said, adding, “In fact, they are deeply concerned… about what it would mean if [Donald] Trump were to become president given his stated policies on Russia Ukraine and on NATO and on the European Union.”

Newsweek reached out to Bremmer and the Biden campaign for comment via email on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination next week at the Republican National Convention. As of Wednesday, he is leading Biden for the Oval Office by 2.3 points, according to national poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Trump, who has been critical of NATO in the past, recently faced criticism from alliance members following comments at a February rally. Trump said if a NATO country were invaded by Russia, “I would not protect you [the country]. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” His remarks come as Russia continues its over two-year-long war following the invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Trump’s comments by reminding reporters of NATO’s Article 5 clause, which requires member states to defend one another. He emphasized, “One for all, all for one applies to all Allies and is the heart of NATO.”

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment via email on Wednesday.

Bremmer said that “The vast majority of the foreign leaders that are here in Washington right now, they want Biden to win,” but he noted “right now, they mostly think he won’t.”

Bremmer said a world leader had told him Biden was “repeating the same anecdote twice in an individual meeting,” and he had also been told of an instance where the President was “not recognizing someone that he knew quite well when he came up and introduced him.” Bremmer said that many of the leaders have seen Biden’s “deterioration” from spending time with him at various global meetings and conferences.

He noted that many leaders are concerned about how Biden could even “campaign effectively for another four months, never mind carry out four more years after that. And again, they won’t say that publicly because they are allies.”

He also pointed out that NATO leaders’ concerned over the next U.S. presidency has bled into many conversations. “You’d think this would be all about Ukraine and all about NATO but I mean the reality is the United States is the linchpin of NATO and if they can’t count on the U.S. they’ve got a serious problem,” he said. According to NATO’s latest estimates, the U.S. is on track to contribute $755 billion to the alliance in 2024, 3.38 percent of it’s GDP.

Given the political state of the world, with countries “on the front line with a war where the Russians have invaded Ukraine and NATO is standing up. They feel like they have a lot more at stake with this U.S. election than most Americans do,” Bremmer said. “This is a matter of actual national security in their minds.”