Not that long ago, we were told that President Joe Biden was sharp as a tack, with an insightful mind that was on top of every aspect of his job. He supposedly asked questions that stumped the experts he was so smart. So those videos we saw of him not even knowing how to leave a stage? Those were all selectively edited to make the president look bad, or what got termed “cheap fakes.”
Well, after the debate on Thursday night, we know better.
But hey, at least we beat Medicare.
The truth was that the debate was aired live. There was no way to fake Biden’s rambling incoherence except through extreme method acting—and I bet Biden is neither good enough nor inclined to do so.
In fact, the performance was so bad, that Democrats may well be scrambling to find a way to replace him.
All Joe Biden needed to do was deliver a repeat performance of his State of the Union address.
Instead, he stammered. He stumbled. And, with fewer than five months to November, he played straight into Democrats’ worst fears — that he’s fumbling away this election to Donald Trump.
The alarm bells for Democrats started ringing the second Biden started speaking in a haltingly hoarse voice. Minutes into the debate, he struggled to mount an effective defense of the economy on his watch and flubbed the description of key health initiatives he’s made central to his reelection bid, saying “we finally beat Medicare” and incorrectly stating how much his administration lowered the price of insulin. He talked himself into a corner on Afghanistan, bringing up his administration’s botched withdrawal unprompted. He repeatedly mixed up “billion” and “million,” and found himself stuck for long stretches of the 90-minute debate playing defense.
And when he wasn’t speaking, he stood frozen behind his podium, mouth agape, his eyes wide and unblinking for long stretches of time.
Now, this was clear for anyone who watched the debate, but we also know that Politico is one of many publications inclined to run interference for the president. The fact that they can’t figure out how to spin it isn’t good.
But the truth is that they also spoke with a lot of Democrats who don’t see good things happening in November.
“Biden is toast — calling it now,” said Jay Surdukowski, an attorney and Democratic activist from New Hampshire who co-chaired former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential campaign in the state.
In text messages with POLITICO, Democrats expressed confusion and concern as they watched the first minutes of the event. One former Biden White House and campaign aide called it “terrible,” adding that they have had to ask themselves over and over: “What did he just say? This is crazy.”
“Not good,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) wrote.
POLITICO spoke to about a dozen Democrats, some of whom were granted anonymity to discuss Biden’s performance.
In other words, the Biden at the State of the Union that the left was so proud of isn’t the Biden we’ve been seeing elsewhere.
And really, they had to delude themselves to believe those videos were “cheap fakes” in the first place.
Well, either that or engage in a bit of projection.
See, the left knows “cheap fakes” well. They’ve used plenty of them over the years. They’ve ginned up outrage over that exact same tactic, one that has the advantage of being just accurate enough that many won’t really say they’re lying, even if they’re being deceptive.
A few days ago, a piece at Fox News touched on this:
The sudden concern with allegedly out-of-context video clips comes after liberal media outlets pushed several "cheap fakes" of their own over the years.
Trump's ‘bloodbath’ comment
At an Ohio rally in March, Trump warned about China winning the war on car manufacturing, telling voters "Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories."
The term "bloodbath," while frequently referred to as a violent slaughter, also has a longstanding alternative meaning of a "major economic disaster," according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
Much of the media's coverage, however, either downplayed or flat-out ignored the context of Trump's comments discussing car manufacturing and kept the focus on the word, portraying it as a threat by Trump if he doesn't win.
…
The smearing of Covington teen Nicholas Sandmann
One of the most infamous "cheap fakes" in recent memory concerned a group of students from Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School who visited Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life in 2019 and were portrayed as virulent racists.
A video went viral showing one "MAGA" hat-wearing student, Nicholas Sandmann, smiling at Native American elder Nathan Phillips beating a drum and singing a chant as he was surrounded by Sandmann's peers, who all had joined in on the chant in front of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
There are, of course, more examples of this given, so go and give that a read.
The left has a history of taking things out of context and trying to make things look worse than they were. It’s not a stretch for them to assume that’s what was happening with Biden.
Except, there was enough context in those clips to make it clear that Biden is losing it. He’s not well. I never liked the guy, but what’s happening with him now is elder abuse, and those who are either pushing him to do this or refusing to tell him that no, he’s not up to running the country are doing him a grave disservice at best.
So Democrats have a decision to make.
On one hand, they have a convention coming up where they’ll formally pick their nominee. They could decide to replace Biden there or they can stay the course.
Replacing Biden might spell bad news for Trump. The truth is that people don’t like him at all, so if the DNC replaces the president with someone even slightly more likable, then he’ll have a harder challenge to return to the Oval Office.
But that depends on who they pick.
If they go with Kamala Harris, I don’t think Trump will have a big problem. Harris has a lower popularity rating than cancer, after all.
Other Democrats could pull in better numbers, though, then that takes away Trump’s biggest advantage this cycle; that he’s not Joe Biden. If the other guy is suddenly not Biden, well, then things get interesting.
At some point, though, the left has to acknowledge, at least in their own minds, that those videos aren’t faked. They’re not deceptively edited. They’re nothing but the absolute truth and Biden really is that bad.
It’s entirely possible that they won’t do that until after the election, of course, but the reality is that Biden is a liability. Any advantage of incumbency is gone because of just how bad he is. His performance on Thursday was so horrific that even people who didn’t watch are getting the gist of it, even from fellow Democrats.
No one needed “cheap fakes” to illustrate that, just a working set of eyes.
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What I find idiotic is that the White House Staff/Puppeteers had to know how Bad Biden is but they allowed him to debate Trump.
While Trump apparently asked for the debate, the News Media would have supported a "No Way" from the Biden Puppeteers.
So what was in their "minds" when they OKed this debate????