Denial, anger, depression and acceptance. American Democrats went through these stages of grief Thursday night when Joe Biden crashed and burned on the CNN debate stage.
After the event, the media press rooms felt like a wake.
All interlocutors sadly agreed that now may be the time to accept what the rest of the world has understood for some time: Joe Biden is not fit to be a presidential candidate in 2024.
Non-democrats might feel entitled to respond: What planet have these people been living on?
The night before may have been particularly harrowing, as Biden slurred incoherently on every issue. But anyone with eyes to see has known for some time that America’s Commander in Chief is not in good health.
All speakers sadly agreed that perhaps the time has come to accept what the rest of the world has long understood: Joe Biden is unfit to be a presidential candidate in 2024.
The night before may have been particularly harrowing, as Biden slurred incoherently on every issue. But anyone with eyes to see has known for some time that America’s Commander in Chief is not in good health.
His presidency has become a sad farce, as this 81-year-old man splutters, stammers and stumbles pathetically across the world stage. His obvious senility can by no means have come as a total surprise. It simply confirmed the worst fears, and more so, about his mental state.
For years, Democrats have insisted – often in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary – that Joe is in top shape and functioning at full capacity.
In meetings, they say, he is very talkative and always communicates the facts. But last month, in a significant break from the party line, senior sources close to the president revealed that Biden appeared increasingly defiant in meetings.
In January, at a congressional meeting on national security and Ukraine, he spoke so weakly that he could barely be heard and paused for so long that aides feared he had fallen asleep.
Therefore, his insistence that everything is fine has often sounded as contrived as a North Korean press release about Kim Jong Un’s vigor. At best, it’s a hoax and at worst, a blatant lie.
His presidency has become a sorry farce, as the 81-year-old pathetically mumbles, stammers and stumbles across the world stage.
His obvious senility can by no means come as a total surprise. It simply confirmed the worst fears, and more, about his mental state.
In 2020, during the last presidential election, comments about Biden’s onset of dementia were dismissed as malicious Republican gossip. But even then, Biden was showing signs of decline.
That year, the COVID-19 pandemic spared him from the usual rigors of a campaign. Thanks to lockdowns, he spent much of the election preparation in the basement of his Delaware home, communicating via Zoom.
Tellingly, he lost his temper when a friendly journalist asked him if he had taken a cognitive test. “Come on, man!” she replied. “That’s like telling you, before entering this program, have you taken a test to find out if you use cocaine or not?”
Biden was better then than he is now. In the first presidential debate in 2020, he outperformed Trump, but in other interviews and public appearances that year, he often lost his thread and seemed confused in interviews.
Since Biden took office, his team has done everything possible to hide his declining capabilities.
His press conferences are staged down to the last detail. The White House now has a public relations protocol under which the president is flanked by an entourage who walks slowly at his side across the lawn between the White House and Marine One, the presidential helicopter, to avoid television crews. and photographers capture more embarrassing images.
Now, after the humiliation on CNN on Thursday, that charade appears to be finally over. Joe and his wife Jill, the First Lady, still seem oblivious, at least in public.
In 2020, during the last presidential election, rumors about Biden’s incipient dementia were dismissed as malicious Republican gossip. But even then she was showing signs of decline.
The Covid pandemic that year ensured that he did not have to go through the usual rigors of a campaign. Thanks to the shutdowns, he spent much of the run-up to the election in the basement of his Delaware home, communicating via Zoom.
At a post-debate event on Thursday, Jill addressed her husband in front of a crowd of adoring supporters: “Joe, you’ve done a great job!” she shouted, as if addressing a troubled child. “You’ve answered all the questions!”
But outside Biden’s inner circle, most Democrats are abandoning any pretense that all is well.
Why then did it take so long for Democrats to publicly acknowledge this glaring reality? The speed with which party loyalists are changing their tune this week has raised some suspicion in Republican circles.
The theory now is that Democratic bigwigs, possibly at the behest of Barack Obama, pushed for the first presidential debate to be held early (it’s usually in September) so that if Biden failed, the Democratic machine would have time to replace him.
But if Democrats really were so calculating, why didn’t they write off Biden last year before the nominating process began?
At a post-debate event on Thursday, Jill addressed her husband before a crowd of die-hard fans: “Joe, you did a great job!” she shouted, as if she were addressing a troubled child. ‘You answered all the questions!’
Biden already has all the delegates he needs to be confirmed at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August. Unless he steps aside or dies, he will be virtually unstoppable.
The truth is that Democrats are paralyzed by Trump’s possible return. That is why they have clung to Joe Biden – the man who defeated him in the election four years ago – despite his flagrant decrepitude.
But we are less than 130 days away from the election, and Democrats’ stubborn refusal to accept Biden’s mortality any sooner may end up propelling Trump to the White House.
Most people are not thrilled by the prospect of Trump returning to power, but, similar to how many British voters now feel about the Conservative Party, a growing number of Americans believe that the out-of-touch Democrats deserve to be punished at the ballot box.
Joe Biden’s party has lied to the public – and to itself – for far too long.
Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator