To the Editor,

Legislators and party elites are reported to have known about President Biden’s condition for some time, but concealed it from the American people. Why? We were told Biden was sharper than ever. Just a week before the debate, videos of his difficulties were dismissed as “cheap fakes.” Apparently, Democrats could look past the President’s personal decline; it was the declining poll numbers that were his undoing.

Vice President Harris is now the presumptive nominee, a quick turn that raises many questions for both Harris and CT-5’s Jahana Hayes. Namely, what did they know about Joe Biden’s condition and why was it covered up? Logs show Jahana Hayes met with Biden at least 18 times; was she somehow oblivious to what we all witnessed? Did she have suspicions when Biden was repeatedly calling her “Jonah”? One of her House colleagues saw enough to primary the President, but those concerns were swept under the rug. So why did she declare “I’m not concerned about his age” just last fall?

Now Americans are rightly asking if Biden is not fit to run, how is he fit to serve? Who is running the country?

Yet part of why Biden was hesitant to step aside was his concerns about Harris being even less capable, with Axios citing specific events and how poorly she treated her staff (92% employee attrition rate as VP!).

Politico reported Jahana Hayes also had concerns, saying nominating Harris would be “setting her up for failure,” comments she has since tried to walk back. Hayes had backed Harris in 2019 during Harris’ failed bid for the nomination, where polls showed she avoided embarrassment by dropping out before her home state. A 2020 Newsweek analysis found then Senator Harris to be more liberal than Bernie Sanders. You may recall Tulsi Gabbard confronted Harris on her record as a prosecutor, which CNN acknowledged was “a major weakness for her candidacy.” Does Jahana Hayes endorse this record?

Despite Harris’ failing with Democrat primary voters in 2019, Hayes tweeted “there is no one better poised to carry on [Biden’s] legacy,” but what legacy is that? Inflation? Foreign policy disasters like Afghanistan where Kamala claimed she had a key role? The immigration crisis for which Harris was supposed to be Biden’s “BoRder Czar”?

Hayes voted with Biden on nearly every bill and ranked as one of the most partisan members of congress. She and VP Harris have both praised Joe Biden’s economic record, promising to build on it. However, as the national debt just rolled over 35 trillion and Newtowners already struggling with inflation and rising bills are left wondering: can we afford another term of this Biden/Harris economy?

Jahana Hayes seems to think so. I believe most Connecticut residents disagree. Hopefully we voters get answers to these important questions before the election.

Ryan Knapp

Sandy Hook