With only five days left before Joe Biden leaves office, it’s safe to say that those days can’t pass quickly enough. On Tuesday, what should have been a routine event instead served as another stark reminder that Biden’s cognitive decline is getting worse.
Biden signed proclamations to establish two new national monuments in California: the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument.
The move, partly aimed at honoring local tribes, will protect approximately 600,000 acres in Southern California and 200,000 acres in Northern California by barring drilling, mining, and other developments. This action aligns with Biden’s “America the Beautiful” initiative, which seeks to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030, honor tribal heritage, blah, blah, blah, climate change, yada, yada, yada.
The Pit River Tribe has worked to get the federal government to designate the Sáttítla National Monument. A number of Native American tribes and environmental groups began pushing Biden to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument, named after the large desert lizard, at the start of 2023.
The area would protect public lands south of Joshua Tree National Park, spanning the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River.
Advocates say the monument will protect a tribal cultural landscape, ensure access to nature for local residents and preserve military history sites. The California Legislature passed a resolution in August 2024 to urge Biden to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and another National Park Service-managed national monument adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park, as well as the Kw’tsán National Monument, which would border Mexico and Arizona.
Tribal leaders have also called for the Chuckwalla monument to honor tribal sovereignty to include local tribes as co-stewards, following in the footsteps of a recent wave of monuments such as the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, which is overseen in conjunction with five tribal nations.
Despite these grand gestures, the signing ceremony was marred by Biden’s own cognitive misfires. The signing had already been delayed from the previous week due to the Los Angeles wildfires, and when Biden finally did sit down to sign the proclamations, he seemed visibly confused.
Related: WATCH: Biden and Harris Insult Wildfire Victims During Disastrous Briefing
At 82 years old, a clearly confused Biden appeared to forget the basic procedure for signing the national monument proclamation, even asking, “I gotta fill this in?” before questioning who would fill in the dates.
Biden has no idea where he is or what he's doing as he signs a new national monument into law: "I gotta fill this in?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 15, 2025
Fewer than six days until this disgraceful chapter in American history mercifully comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/TxTXDL1Q2p
Biden hoped that his actions on Tuesday would be a testament to his legacy on climate change and environmentalism; instead, it became a chilling reminder that this man is not well.
Seriously, after witnessing the signing, one can’t help but wonder: does anyone believe that Biden is still in charge? With just five days remaining of his disastrous presidency, Inauguration Day can't come soon enough.
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