President Biden reportedly appeared unaware of having signed a key executive order during a conversation last year with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The exchange left Johnson deeply concerned about the state of the nation, saying he feared it was in “serious trouble.”

According to Johnson, Biden adamantly denied issuing the order to halt new permits for liquid natural gas (LNG) exports, despite having signed it less than a month prior. Johnson shared his account with Bari Weiss of the Free Press, explaining that he didn’t believe Biden was being dishonest but instead genuinely seemed unaware of his actions.

The incident occurred in early 2024 during a meeting in the Oval Office to discuss a proposed aid package for Ukraine. After the meeting, Johnson raised the issue of Biden’s executive order, which had suspended new LNG export permits—a major concern for Louisiana, a state responsible for handling 61% of the country’s LNG exports in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine, because they gotta get their gas from him,” Johnson recounted saying to the president.

Biden appeared shocked by the claim, according to Johnson. “I didn’t do that,” Biden replied.

Johnson pressed further, explaining the significant impact on his state and the nation. “Sir, you paused it, I know. I have the export terminals in my state. I talked to those people in my state, I’ve talked to those people this morning, this is doing massive damage to our economy, national security,” Johnson said he told the president.

Despite Johnson’s assertions, Biden continued to deny the freeze on exports until eventually recalling that he had, in fact, signed the order. Biden clarified that the purpose was to study the implications of the fuel exports.

“I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, ‘We are in serious trouble—who is running the country?’” Johnson said. He added, “Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.”

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on Biden’s interaction with Johnson in late February, citing unnamed sources familiar with the meeting.

In December, a bombshell report alleged that White House staff had been concealing signs of Biden’s mental decline since the early days of his presidency.

By January 2021, aides had already started limiting Biden’s in-person engagements and adjusting his daily schedule to account for his fatigue and public gaffes.

In an interview with USA Today, Biden admitted he wasn’t certain if he would have had the “vigor” to serve another term, though he stopped short of explaining how this reflected on his current mental capabilities.

Biden eventually withdrew from the 2024 presidential race after a disastrous debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump. During the debate, Biden struggled to answer questions, froze multiple times, and appeared to lose his train of thought.

Shortly after dropping out, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who went on to lose decisively to Trump in the November election.

{Matzav.com}