Biden circumnavigates the globe and critics zero in on missteps along the way

Overseas travel is brutal for the youngest of presidents, much less the oldest.

HANOI, Vietnam — Overseas travel is brutal for the youngest of presidents, much less the oldest.

At the midpoint of the Asia trip that Joe Biden just finished, he looked out at the press corps and made an observation thick with irony: “These five-day trips around the world are no problem.”

Lost sleep wasn't Biden's only misfortune. He bungled his whereabouts the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, feeding criticism that at age 80, he is unfit for office.

But he stuck to a whirlwind schedule, visiting India and Vietnam, appearing at a summit of the world’s wealthiest countries, speaking to more than 20 foreign leaders, holding a news conference and courting countries that the United States needs to create a bulwark against Chinese aggression.

That’s a lot for anyone and, as he hurtled across continents, the toll started to show. At the press conference Sunday, he struggled to recount the plot of an unnamed John Wayne movie while making a point about climate change.