Joe Biden on ‘really good form’ in talks, UK PM Keir Starmer says
- Asked if Biden was ‘senile’, the British leader says the US president met him for close to an hour then hosted a Nato dinner right after
Joe Biden was on “really good form” when he met Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Britain’s new leader said on Thursday, praising Biden’s leadership as more Democrats called on the US president to drop his re-election bid due to concern over his age.
Senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi and actor George Clooney, a significant fundraiser for the Democrats, both voiced fresh doubts on Wednesday about Biden’s re-election chances after a halting debate performance two weeks ago prompted concern that he would lose to Republican Donald Trump.
Asked if Biden, who is 81, was “senile”, Starmer said he had a good meeting with him on Wednesday, adding that the bilateral – scheduled to last 45 minutes – had ran closer to an hour, and that they had both headed straight to a Nato dinner Biden was hosting afterwards.
“We went through a huge number of issues at pace. He was actually on really good form and mentally agile – absolutely across all the detail,” Starmer told the BBC in an interview, adding that it had been important to him to have such a meeting with Biden quickly after becoming prime minister last week.
Starmer spoke in Washington where he is attending a Nato summit on his first overseas trip since his Labour Party won a big majority in Britain’s parliamentary election last week.
He spoke positively of Biden’s “incredible leadership” in helping to guide the transatlantic alliance through a tumultuous period in global affairs.
