Questions about President Joe Biden's mental competency have lingered in the air for years, but now that he has announced his campaign for a second term in office, heightened attention is being paid to incidents such as one that occurred on live television Thursday, when he struggled to answer questions from a group of children, as the Daily Mail reports.

Biden's shaky performance comes amid new calls for him to undergo a formal cognitive evaluation to establish not just his present fitness for office but also his ability to serve another four-year term, should he prevail in 2024.

Emerald Isle Forgotten

Though it was not even two weeks ago that Biden traveled to Ireland and spent multiple days touring sites of both official and personal genealogical significance, the magical journey about which he raved had apparently already vanished from memory by the time he was asked about recent trips abroad.

During a gathering at the White House commemorating “Take Your Child to Work Day,” Biden was asked by one of the youngsters in attendance, “What was the last country you traveled to?”

Biden stumbled to produce a response, saying, as Fox News noted, “The last country I've traveled – I'm trying to think the last one I was in – I, I've been to 89 – I've met with 89 heads of state so far, so, uh – I'm trying to think. What was the last – Where was the last place I was? It's hard to keep track. Um, I was – " he rambled.

“Ireland!” a child in attendance loudly offered. “Yeah, you're right, Ireland," Biden replied. "That's where it was. How'd you know that?"

Critics Seize Opening

The stunning revelation that Biden could not recall a trans-Atlantic journey he made mere weeks ago with beloved members of his family prompted a flood of criticism from a number on observers, as Fox News further reported.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-48) remarked, “Today, Biden forgot the last foreign country he visited as president. It was Ireland. Week before last. And he wants four more years?”

Paul Bedard of Washington Secrets was similarly incredulous, recalling Biden's own statement that he loved the Emerald Isle so much that he wished to remain there and saying, "He loved Ireland so much, he said he was staying...and he already forgot?”

Steve Flesch of professional golfing fame opined of Biden, “Cognitively unfit by a mile. This is disgraceful and why no country respects America right now," Fox News added.

Gaffes Continue to Mount

The aforementioned trip to Ireland itself provided the venue for a number of other recent Biden gaffes, one also involving a child who asked the president, “What's the top step to success?”

Apparently unsure how to reply, Biden said, “What's the top what? Oh, well, making sure that we don't all have COVID. What – why – what are we talking about here?”

On the same trip, Biden put his foot in his mouth once more in a potentially more diplomatically damaging way, when he confused the name of a New Zealand rugby squad with a British military unit that battled the Irish Republican Army years ago.

By referencing the “Black and Tans,” when he meant to say the “All Blacks,” Biden risked ruffling the feathers of those already convinced of his anti-England sentiments, with comedian Oliver Callan saying, “The greatest gift Ireland wanted from Joe Biden was a signature gaffe. And... didn't he just go and give us one for the century.”

Chorus of Concern

The aforementioned incidents, taken together with countless other malapropisms and missteps Biden has made in recent years, have led many to openly question whether he has the cognitive capabilities to serve as president now – let alone for another term in the Oval Office.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley recently suggested that due to Biden's age and frailties, a vote for him in the next election is really a vote for his running mate, given her bluntly stated belief that he will die within the next five years, as NBC News reported.

Adding his voice to the chorus of doubters this week was frequent Biden critic, former White House physician, and Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13), who has long called for Biden to submit to cognitive testing and for the citizenry to be made privy to the outcome.

In a letter he is circulating among GOP lawmakers prior to sending to the president, Jackson writes, “We call on you to either resign immediately and renounce your bid for reelection or submit to a clinically validated cognitive screening assessment and make those results available to the public.” Whether the Biden campaign will heed that request in order to put the concerns of an arguably growing portion of the electorate to rest, only time will tell.