Top advisers and aides to President Joe Biden and the first lady have a lot of explaining to do.
For weeks, America was assured that the 81-year-old Democratic presidential candidate was fit and capable not only of finishing his term, but of continuing for four more years.
Americans were told not to believe their lying eyes, that the man they saw freezing up at public events and rambling incoherently when he spoke extemporaneously was actually very cunning behind the scenes.
Well, where was that man at Thursday night’s debate?
The future of Joe Biden’s campaign depended on this one test (the first matchup of the 2024 election) and it evidently failed.
Ironically, this was the showdown the Biden campaign wanted.
The future of Joe Biden’s campaign depended on this one test (the first matchup of the 2024 election) and it clearly failed.
President Joe Biden’s top advisers, aides and first lady have a lot of explaining to do.
In May, his team released a video (composed from half a dozen takes) of the president challenging Trump to a debate.
“Make my day, buddy,” Biden strutted.
Well, Mr. President, you have gotten what you asked for.
These are the key moments that now have Democrats in a complete panic, wondering if there is time to swap their candidate for another before voters go to the polls in November.
MOUTH OPEN AND CONFUSED
From the moment President Biden took the stage in Atlanta, millions of Americans watching knew something was wrong.
His appearance was, frankly, shocking: with his mouth open and his eyes half-closed.
Then he opened his mouth and it was worse.
His voice was weak and his train of thought wandered.
Throughout the 90-minute debate, he was often difficult to hear and completely unintelligible.
From the moment President Biden walked onstage in Atlanta, I and millions of people watching at home knew something was wrong.
At one point, Biden inexplicably shifted from discussing abortion policy to crimes against illegal immigrants.
“There are a lot of young women who are being raped by their… by their fathers-in-law, by their… by their husbands, brothers and sisters, by… it’s just… it’s just ridiculous,” she said.
Ridiculous, really.
Even Democrats were stunned.
“There’s a sense of shock about how he spoke at the beginning of this debate about how his voice sounded,” said former Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod. “He seemed a little disoriented.”
Joe gets nasty
As the debate drew to a close, President Biden became angry and hurled insults.
Unsurprisingly, he criticized Trump as a “convicted felon,” but then got disturbingly more specific.
First, he falsely claimed that Trump owes “billions of dollars” in civil penalties for “abusing a woman in public.”
In fact, Trump is appealing a defamation lawsuit he lost against writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a department store decades ago.
As the debate drew to a close, President Biden became enraged and hurled insults.
Biden then went further, telling Trump that he had had “sex with a porn star,” adding “while his wife was pregnant.”
These accusations against Trump are well known. They will do little to change voters’ minds.
Although they make Biden look pathetically desperate.
UNDELIVERED
From the economy to the border, foreign policy to health care, Trump delivered the most effective and impactful lines of the night.
The former president effectively contrasted his handling of America’s longest war with Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members and 170 Afghans.
“I left Afghanistan, but we left with dignity, with strength, with power,” Trump said. “It was the most shameful day in the history of the life of our country.”
On immigration, too, Trump was a clear winner time and again.
“I would love to ask (Biden) why he allowed millions of people to come here from prisons, jails and mental institutions to come to our country and destroy it.”
Unsurprisingly, he blasted Trump as a “felony conviction,” but then became disturbingly more specific.
Polls routinely show voters trust Trump more than Biden on this issue, which is among their top concerns. After tonight, that gap in the polls will only widen.
And of course there is the issue of the economy and the persistent inflation that is eating away at American paychecks.
“(Biden) inherited almost zero inflation,” Trump observed, “and it stayed that way for 14 months. And then it exploded under his leadership because they spent money like a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing.”
BIDEN CAN’T ANSWER THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION
CNN moderator Dana Bash saved the best question for last.
“President Biden, you will be 86 years old at the end of your second term. How do you address concerns about your ability to handle the world’s toughest job well into your 80s?” he asked.
The President’s response, in short, is not good.
“I spent half my career being criticized for being the youngest person in politics… and now I’m the oldest,” he replied, before launching into a rambling recitation of his record that included inventing “computer chips” and visits to South Korea.
Before Thursday night, most Americans already thought Biden would not be able to serve another four years as president.
Now, surely all of them, if they are sincere, will agree with that assessment.
Biden’s candidacy is a done deal.
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