Biden’s reported use of cheat sheets at private fundraisers alarms Democratic donors

President Biden has been relying on cheat sheets to talk about his own policies at private fundraisers and answer vetted questions from donors, raising alarm bells among some of his supporters, sources familiar with his practices have claimed.

Biden, 81, who has been known to use notecards — including some instructing him where to sit and what to do — at public events is now said to be turning to written prompts at closed-door meetings with donors as well, reported Axios.

Biden’s fundraisers follow a familiar pattern: the president delivers introductory remarks with reporters — but not news cameras present in the room. 5 President Biden’s reported reliance on notecards during private fundraisers has alarmed some of his donors. AP 5 Biden, 81, has long be known to use cheat sheets at public events. AFP via Getty Images

A teleprompter is often used during that portion of the event — although there was none at the presidents fundraiser in San Francisco Wednesday, where when speaking off the cuff Biden labeled his warmongering Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB.”

Reporters are then led out of the room, and the rest of the event continues in private.

Democratic donors at Biden’s fundraisers are allowed to ask the president a couple of questions that had been pre-screened by aides. 5 In April, Biden was caught with a notecard revealing that he had known in advance the question that a reporter was going to ask him. AFP via Getty Images

It is during these staged Q&A sessions that Biden reportedly turns to his notes prepared by staffers.

Some donors were said to have come away from fundraisers alarmed that Biden appears to cling to written notes to speak on matters of policy he should be intimately familiar with.

But other supporters have been impressed by the level of the president’s discourse.

“He’s always been an extemporaneous speaker, and he spoke off-the-cuff. Not scripted at all,” Fred Hochberg, a donor who attended a recent fundraiser in Manhattan, told Axios. “I asked him about immigration and the border, and he talked about what’s going on.” 5 Biden’s aides have been supplying the president with detailed notes on how to act at events. AFP via Getty Images

Biden’s affinity for crib sheets is well-documented.

In April, a photo of a notecard in his hands during a press conference revealed that he had advance knowledge of a question from a reporter.

In June 2022, the president was caught holding a cheat sheet that gave him a series of extremely detailed instructions: YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. YOU take YOUR seat.”

The 81-year-old commander-in-chef has long been plagued by persistent questions about his advanced age and fitness for office. 5 Biden attended a fundraiser in San Francisco with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday. AP

A new Quinnipiac University poll showed that 67% of registered voters said that the octogenarian president is too old to serve another term — compared to 57% who said the same of the 77-year-old Donald Trump.

Special counsel Robert Hur wrote in a scathing report on Biden’s handling of classified documents released earlier this month that the president came across as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”

Biden has bristled at claims that he lacked the mental acuity to continue on as president, telling reporters in response to Hur’s findings: “I know what the hell I’m doing!”