'National Security Risk': Rand Paul Says Biden Using Cheat Sheets is Sign of 'Cognitive Decline'

Recent days have been rich in gaffes by US President Joe Biden. During his visit to Poland, he made waves with his remark that Vladimir Putin "cannot stay in power" and his address to US troops, during which he, according some observers, appeared to hint at the possibility of a deployment of US troops in Ukraine.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul warned that Joe Biden's gaffes and need for cue cards during speeches points to the US president's "cognitive decline", which is something that could pose a "national security risk".

Speaking to Fox News, Paul took a dig at Biden, while also trying to clarify the US' official position on Russia.

"A lot of times when you're around somebody who's in cognitive decline, you find yourself trying to help them with a sentence, trying to help them complete it… but we shouldn't have to do that for the commander-in-chief", he said. "And, it is actually a national security risk because he's sending signals that no one in their right mind would want to send to Russia at this point. We aren't trying to replace Putin in Russia. We aren't trying to have regime change. We're not sending troops into Ukraine, and we're not going to respond in kind with chemical weapons".

According to Paul, Biden "lives in an alternate universe" and his gaffes are being noticed even by left-leaning media outlets.

"There's a humorous angle to this. But it's really not funny because we're worried about what he's saying, precipitating or escalating the conflict in Ukraine into a world war. That's very serious", Paul concluded.

The senator is not alone in perceiving Biden's recent gaffes as potentially dangerous and escalatory. On Saturday, Biden, speaking in Poland, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power". Later, when addressing US troops, the US president appeared to hint that American soldiers are training Ukrainian servicemen in Poland - something that US officials had to quickly deny.

When speaking to reporters on Monday, Biden had a cheat sheet with him where he had pre-written questions and answers. Among them was a question "Is this now threatening to splinter unity with your NATO allies?" to which the answer read "No. NATO has never been more united".

During the Monday presser, Biden stood by his claim that "Putin cannot remain in power", but added that by saying this, he was expressing his own moral outrage rather than presenting an official US policy. Following the inflammatory remark on Saturday, several top US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had to assure the public that Washington has "no strategy" to back regime change in Russia.

However, the remark on Putin still made waves, prompting comments not only from the Kremlin, where they reminded the US president that it is up to the Russian people to decide who is in power, but also from across the world. French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, criticised Biden's choice of words and noted that "the objective" is to de-escalate the Ukraine situation, not vice versa.