Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News that President Biden uses notecards when in private meetings with a small number of people. He said the President even speaks to a single individual by reading cards, which he had personally experienced.
Discussing his meetings with Biden during the debt ceiling negotiations last year, McCarthy said it is challenging to converse with him because he does not veer from a pre-prepared script. “If you deviate from the cards, he can’t continue,” the Republican said.
Mr. McCarthy noted, however, that he respects President Biden for his service to the country but added that he is too old for the intensely difficult job of US President.
Donors are reportedly alarmed by Biden’s conduct as his use of “cheat sheets” becomes more widely known. Media reports claim that supporters who spend thousands of dollars to attend events where the President is speaking are dismayed that they cannot have a casual conversation or speak freely because he sticks to a strict rote of topics and points.
Others, however, argue that note cards are standard practice for senior officials and are used to remind them of various facts and figures. Presidents from George HW Bush to Donald Trump have used them, observers say, as they are necessary to help leaders navigate several issues. Nonetheless, Biden critics argue that his staff keeps him closely scripted because they fear what he may say if given free rein.
For example, he recently referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “crazy SOB” at a private event in California and called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator.” One of his most serious off-script gaffes occurred in 2022 during a speech in Poland when he said that Putin must be removed from power. White House staff scrambled to limit the damage and immediately issued a statement saying the United States had no intention of trying to change the political regime in Moscow.
