Marriage vows usually go something like this: “...to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.”

In addition to this specific vow — sporadically made before God and only kept 50% of the time — there’s the more fundamental understanding that marriage is a partnership in which both members look out for each other’s best interest.

In simple terms, for example, a loving spouse would be expected to support their partner through emotional hardship, work-related stress, or health concerns, making decisions together to protect health and happiness.

Unless you’re married to President Joe Biden or Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).

First, let’s address the president, who has been a mere passenger of obvious mental decline for years, both before and after his electoral victory in 2020. As a result of this disintegration, Biden routinely oscillates between creepy whispers and unhinged screams and suffers from undeniable confusion.

Just one of many examples is his famous “Where’s Jackie?” moment , as he searched for Indiana’s Rep. Jackie Walorski during a White House conference. The problem? She died weeks beforehand in a car crash, and Biden released a statement mourning her death at the time.

And then there’s Fetterman, the man who beat Trump nominee Dr. Oz in the race to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate despite suffering from a stroke and being unable to speak English. Fetterman has been hospitalized just five weeks after taking his oath of office, checking himself into Walter Reed Hospital to receive treatment for clinical depression.

What are the common themes here — beyond a hunger for power combined with utter incompetence and a total inability to form coherent sentences?

Both of these men are arguably victims of terrible women.

Standing behind Joe Biden is his wife, Doctor (of Education from the University of Delaware) Jill Biden. You may have seen her leading Ol’ Joe to and from the podium like a lost puppy, or more recently making out with second gentleman Doug Emhoff. And who can forget those viral clips during the 2020 campaign when Joe Biden’s brain shut down during live interviews, and Jill Biden simply stood by and smiled?

The same is true for John Fetterman, whose wife (and potential successor) Gisele Fetterman somehow came last in Matt Walsh’s “Who is the worst wife in America?” poll . Again, her husband could not speak coherently, and yet she was one of the loudest advocates for his pursuit of power.

Both have failed in their role as a spouse.

Now, the obvious retort to such a claim is that I’m simply being sexist. Gisele Fetterman preemptively made this argument in November, rejecting any criticism of her continued support for her brain-dead husband as right-wing misogyny.

“The right wing hates women,” she said . “They especially hate strong women, and I think that’s what you’re seeing.”

On an unrelated note, here’s Gisele celebrating her husband’s first day as a U.S. senator. Nothing says “love” like cropping out your husband.

In reality, this has quite literally nothing to do with gender and everything to do with the responsibility of marriage.

A husband who pushed his dementia-addled wife into high office would have failed just as much as Jill Biden, and a husband who rode on his wife’s coattails despite her suffering a debilitating stroke and mental health concerns would have failed just as much as Gisele Fetterman.

If marriage is to have any value, then it must require a fundamental bidirectional promise to advocate one another’s best interests — something that is notably lacking in the Biden and Fetterman households.

Ian Haworth ( @ighaworth ) is the host of Off Limits with Ian Haworth .