WE need to talk about Joe Biden.
The White House has been trying to hide it for months, but here in Italy it was clear the elderly leader of the free world is not in a good way.
Joe Biden looked in his own world as Italian PM Giorgia Meloni put on a skydiving display for her fellow leadersGetty
Blundering Biden appeared to walk off in his own direction away from other world leadersTwitter / @RNCResearch
The annual G7 gathering for once actually achieved more than warm words, but the unprecedented $50billion (£39billion) seizure of Russian assets to aid Ukraine will not be why Puglia ’24 will be remembered.
“It’s the worst he’s ever been,” one seasoned diplomatic source whispered to me yesterday, and the whole world can see it now.
Questions about the lucidity of the most powerful man in the world have been bubbling around for years, but on the eve of the US elections they have exploded.
On the fringes of the summit, hushed discussions are taking place about Biden, 81, and his worrying lack of mental clarity.
Another insider told me that while the President had at times shown sharpness during meetings, he also appeared to display a troubling loss of “focus” and concentration.
The game was up
But it was the moment that the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni put on a skydiving display for her fellow world leaders on the luxury Borgo Egnazia estate that the penny finally dropped . . .
Has the Commander in Chief gone gaga?
This gem of olive groves on the Adriatic coast, nestled in Italy’s heel, used to be most famous for Justin Timberlake’s 2012 wedding.
Now it could go down in history as the place where the West realised the game was up for Sleepy Joe.
Meloni’s photo op show of unity and military prowess was quickly overshadowed when Biden decided to turn his back on the G7 group as they clapped for each parachute jumper displaying a national flag.
He stood grinning for a few seconds before deciding to shuffle away from the powerful pack.
After taking several small and limbering steps he began to talk to someone and offered them a thumbs-up.
The other leaders stood watching the President with puzzled looks on their faces.
Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak and Giorgia Meloni stared in his direction before catching each other’s eye with a knowing glance.
Quick-thinking Meloni then made a beeline for the President before tugging on Biden’s arm.
By this point the President was facing in the total opposite direction, with his back to everyone else, clearly not sticking to the script.
As if helping a confused elderly relative, Meloni gently shepherded Biden back towards the photographers, as the rest of the G7 leaders all made an obvious movement to surround the befuddled-looking Joe.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni had to go and retrieve Biden and bring him back to the groupTwitter / @RNCResearch
As all fixed smiles and looked towards the cameras, Biden then decided to slowly put on his shades.
The White House quickly went into full spin mode, attempting to say a viral video of the moment had been edited.
But they know the truth, and have had to stop their boss walking alone, instead flanking him with aides to try to disguise his physical frailty.
Biden’s stroppy press secretary, Andrew Bates, claimed his boss was simply congratulating a diver on the floor who was collecting his things.
He went on to blame the “desperate” media for using “an artificially narrow frame” to make Biden look bad.
While we may all look on aghast, what is Putin thinking? Or China’s Xi?
Harry Cole
When quizzed, Rishi Sunak tried to put on a brave face yesterday morning, repeating the line that the President was just “being very polite” in thanking the jumpers.
The PM claimed his key ally “just went over to kind of talk to all of them individually”.
He told me: “As far as I know, he went over to talk to some of the parachute jumpers and say thank you or hello to them.”
But the video, from whatever angle you watch it, shows a different story.
And people have eyes, and their own minds, to make up.
Biden tried to recover from the gaffe by slowly putting his sunglasses onBackGrid
More gaffes
Quite why it takes so long for the President to put on his signature Ray-Ban Aviators is another unanswered question, as is why he failed to show up to dinner for the group later that evening.
Or why he appeared to sniff or kiss the Italian PM’s hair . . . But I digress.
Texting around some other countries’ delegations as the summit concluded yesterday, the word that came up more than once in reply was simply “embarrassing”.
But it is more worrying than that. Can anyone watching Biden at this summit really imagine him lasting another four years as President?
Or even making it through this autumn’s presidential race without more gaffes?
And while we may all look on aghast, what is Putin thinking? Or China’s Xi?
It’s not too late for the Democrats to replace Biden with another candidate — their convention in August could find a way.
Time to stop the spin and bluster and have an honest discussion: Is this man in a fit state to lead the world?
Answers on a postcard, from Italy . . .