Question: did Joe Biden just threaten to fight Jake Tapper?
Follow-up question: does it count as an actual threat if the guy making it is 82 and can barely walk up the stairs?
The answer to the second one might be obvious, but the first? Seems to be yes.
When asked by a reporter Friday during his first public appearance post-cancer diagnosis (or at least, post-public admission of it), the former president appeared to admit he isn’t mentally or physically fit, while at the same time saying he could “beat the hell” out of the reporters - CNN's Tapper and Axios' National Political Correspondent Alex Thompson - who recently co-authored a book detailing Biden's "secret" mental decline while in office.
“There’s been a lot of discussion recently about your mental and physical capabilities while you were in office-” the reporter began.
“You can see that I’m mentally incompetent, and I can’t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” Biden tried to joke, seemingly referring to Tapper and Thompson while also appearing to say he’s both senile and disabled.
Joe Biden demonstrates his mental fortitude by threatening to “beat the hell” out of Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.pic.twitter.com/hTfMtdXM8p
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 30, 2025
And if you're waiting for any of that to make sense, you're missing the whole point. It's about as clear as anything the man said during his four years in office.
Still, Tapper might want to keep one eye open, in case President Pudding Cup decides to shuffle over and clock him with his walker.