I avoided all commentary before watching Joe Biden’s sit-down interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos because I didn’t want to risk being influenced by other people’s opinions in any way — I wanted to see and hear and feel this thing firsthand and viscerally so that I could gauge the condition of the president of the United States.
Here’s what I think:
- Biden looked and sounded terrible. Was it a bit better than last week’s debate against Trump? Sure, maybe . . . but are we actually talking about clearing that embarrassingly low bar like it means anything in the real world? Joe Biden looked and sounded like he may not make it to the end of the year, let alone the end of a second term in January 2029, four and a half years from today, when the man would be 86. I don’t say that with any glee or any joy. It’s just the truth. And the American people are not going to vote for that. This Joe Biden — which is the only Joe Biden we’re going to get from here on out — is a sure loser against Donald Trump in November.
- Biden’s stubbornness and obstinacy will come off as completely inexplicable to normal Americans. They’ll conclude that Joe Biden is a selfish politician primarily interested, above all else, in his own status and his own power. What we saw was not a public servant merely trying to do his best for the country. Indeed, Biden — a man who is constantly warning that Trump’s reelection will mean the end of American democracy — told Stephanopoulos that, actually, he can live with the risk of a Trump reelection and sleep well at night so long as Joe Biden leaves everything out on the field and does his best during the campaign. “I’ll feel,” Biden told Stephanopoulos, “as long as I gave it my all, and I did the goodest [sic] job I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
Let’s be clear about what he means by this. Joe Biden told the American people that Joe Biden’s reelection is more important that anything, even the end of American democracy or the perils that may befall the country in the event of a Trump restoration — and that he won’t listen to anyone or any combination of people, except, perhaps, “the Lord Almighty.” The American people should take note of this man’s priorities.
In fact, the pitch the American people heard from Joe Biden 2o24 is pretty simple: Joe Biden has always wanted to president, he’s president now, so anyone who thinks he should step aside can go to hell.
- Joe Biden is a delusional and amazingly stubborn man. He’ll never, ever withdraw. Democrats are stuck with him.