Before he even took office, President Joe Biden’s health has been a cause for great concern.
Those worries are increasingly well-founded as the 80-year-old is prone to mental lapses and falls as his staff and the media repeatedly attempt to downplay them.
But this time, the White House is actually acknowledging an ailment after indisputable evidence of it has surfaced: Biden suffers from sleep apnea.
After photos showing strange marks across the president’s face made the rounds on social media Wednesday, White House spokesman Andrew Bates confirmed the indentations on the president’s cheeks came from a continuous positive airway pressure machine Biden uses for the condition.
“Since 2008, the president has disclosed his history with sleep apnea in thorough medical reports,” Bates told CNN.
“He used a CPAP machine last night, which is common for people with that history.”
Bloomberg White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs shared the photo taken of the president on the White House lawn that caused all of the commotion.
“Scoop: Biden has begun using a CPAP machine, per source,” Jacobs wrote as Bloomberg was the first to break the story using unnamed sources that CNN later confirmed with Bates.
“The device is to treat longstanding sleep apnea, one of the people said. As Biden departed the White House this morning for Chicago, indentations from the CPAP straps could be seen on his face. Story by @jendeben and me,” Jacobs added.
Scoop: Biden has begun using a CPAP machine, per sources. The device is to treat longstanding sleep apnea, one of the people said. As Biden departed the White House this morning for Chicago, indentations from the CPAP straps could be seen on his face. Story by @jendeben and me. pic.twitter.com/U4Chkp16Pq
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 28, 2023
According to the Sleep Foundation, as many as 30 percent of adult Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, which causes them to have several episodes throughout the night where they stop or dangerously slow their breathing.
People with sleep apnea can be prone to mental cloudiness, drowsiness, and other less serious side effects due to the sleep deprivation it causes.
However, serious side effects include an increase in all-cause mortality as well as the risk of cardiovascular disease and death if left untreated.
The CPAP machine is used to mitigate the risk as it pushes a continuous airflow past the anatomical obstruction and into the lungs of the wearer.
It’s unclear if Biden consistently uses his machine when he sleeps, however.
An unnamed official told the New York Times that Biden only started to use the machine in recent weeks and that his sleep apnea has not been included in previous presidential medical records.
A report from Politico noted that since 2006, Biden has experienced an irregular heartbeat that may have been linked to sleep apnea, suggesting it’s been a long-term problem for him.
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Bates’ statement seemed purposefully evasive in exactly how often Biden was using his CPAP (there’s a great deal of that at the White House lately) but the proof is written all over Biden’s face.
After all, if the president has been using his mask all along, why is this the first time the public has noticed the telltale markings?
For the average person, only family and medical personnel deserve an answer to that question — but this is the president whose health is subject to public scrutiny as it is a matter of national security.
If Biden has not been wearing his CPAP, he has been putting himself at grave risk of dying suddenly and leaving America in the incompetent hands of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Presumably, there are people at the White House whose job it is to remind the president to take care of himself or even first lady Jill Biden prompting him to put on his CPAP — but Biden has been left confused and shuffling around enough times to hint that he might be mostly left to his own devices.
And if Biden can’t manage this very treatable condition on his own, how can he be trusted with the highest office in America?
