July 12, 2024 - 5:00pm
Several top Democrats have publicly expressed their preference that Joe Biden exit the presidential race, drawing a hostile and at times conspiratorial response from those who still believe he’s the party’s best chance at keeping the White House.
The President’s performance at last night’s widely anticipated press conference was an improvement on his showing at the Atlanta debate last month, reassuring his most ardent supporters while doing little to quell the concerns of the general public. He had fewer major gaffes, though he did refer to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump”, hours after introducing Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” during the Nato conference. He also used a teleprompter and announced aloud that he would be selecting reporters from a pre-approved list to ask him questions.
The press conference, however, was sufficient proof of Biden’s mental fitness for some. The Washington Post’s Jen Rubin was optimistic, and called for the media to report that Biden is “on top of things in a way Trump is not and will never be”. For the President’s supporters, the sense of panic surrounding his candidacy is an unhelpful distraction from the more serious threat posed by Donald Trump. This was the thrust of the criticism directed at the New York Times over pieces calling for Biden to exit the race, which might have been the motivation for the outlet’s new editorial calling Trump “unfit to lead”. The same argument played out in response to Hollywood producer and devoted Democrat Rob Reiner’s Friday morning statement calling for Biden to step down. The post earned 2,000 comments in two hours, with critics dismissing Reiner and lauding the President’s Thursday performance.
This pro-Biden cohort has been consistently defending him and minimising his age problem for weeks. Former Barack Obama staffer Ben Rhodes was met with hundreds of critical comments after questioning the Biden team’s decision to pick a fight with actor George Clooney over the two men’s comparative stamina. Biden’s supporters accused Rhodes of attempting to tear down the 81-year-old, dismissed Clooney as an irrelevant celebrity, and pointed to Rhodes’s work as a paid commentator as disqualifying.
Jon Favreau, another former Obama aide and co-host of Pod Save America, has been subjected to wall-to-wall hostility for drawing attention to the challenges facing Biden’s reelection, particularly his cognitive issues. Prominent commentators and countless online accounts have called him a “coward” and accused him of “wetting the bed”.
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch garnered over 3,000 comments on his Washington Post piece calling for Biden to step down. Many of these comments were negative, including several that suggested Russia was responsible for the criticism of Biden.
Speculation about a cynical force behind the Democratic revolt has not been restricted to social media. Obama has himself been a key figure in the emerging theories surrounding Biden’s fall from grace, with a daytime television host promoting this version of events. “The Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said in response to Clooney’s op-ed calling for the President, whom the actor had long supported, to drop out.
Many online accounts are veering into outright conspiracism, with some suggesting that the late Jeffrey Epstein’s associates are to blame for the groundswell of anti-Biden sentiment. They claim that Hollywood, the media, and elected Democrats are pushing an anti-Biden narrative to distract from incriminating Epstein files that would implicate both Trump and prominent media figures. As a result, a Miami Herald reporter who has reported extensively on Epstein has been exposed to numerous attacks suggesting she has neglected key evidence that could implicate Trump and expose a conspiracy driving the anti-Biden push among Democrats.
While Thursday’s performance may have been encouraging for those still holding out hope for Biden, it will likely do little to stop the expected outpouring of public calls from Congressional Democrats for the President to step down.
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SubscribeI think it’s important to remember that this is the party we must elect to save democracy across the globe.
Do you happen to know what emoji is used to mark sarcasm statements? I’m very afraid of getting into an awkward position.
I was being sarcastic and I know nothing about emojis. I’ve failed though if it’s too difficult to detect.
Often one adds. /s to indicate sarcasm
Thanks for the answer. I just wanted to make sure once again that I was still okay. Well, I mean, I’m still a long way from Biden.
You can never be completely sure 🙂
It was ambiguous. Glad for the clarification. Keep using words; emojis are unworthy of you.
Be careful!
so funny ! you’re on form today Jim.
I wish Biden would remember that he promised he would be a one term president. Someone needs to remind him of his pledge.
I am not sure that I understand the columnist’s point. Are we now so shallow that we make judgements about policy based on the number and sentiment of comments on X? I mean really, is there celestial meaning behind 3,000! comments, mostly from unemployed 20 year old “activists” living in their parents basement?
Not to be critical, but an anonymous comment about a Rob Reiner comment does not strike me as worth reporting.
Just trying to put things in perspective. Maybe if the left worried more about a carpenter with 2 kids in Des Moines than an overindulged actor and a producer desperate for attention they wouldn’t be in this pickle.
Vote Biden, get Harris. That should frighten the bejesus out of all Americans
Biden’s health is not just about the election. America looks strategically vulnerable for the next five to seven months. The temptation for countries looking to chance-their-hand would be to see what they can get away with now, while there is a window of chaos available, before any new presidency starts.
“The Washington Post’s Jen Rubin was optimistic, and called for the media to report that Biden is ‘on top of things in a way Trump is not and will never be.’”
It says something important that almost no mainstream Democrats despise Trump with the blazing-surface-of-the-sun-hate-you-forever vituperation of “mainstream” Republicans. He’s committed the one unforgivable sin – he laughs at them and other liberals.
” …those who still believe he’s the party’s best chance at keeping the White House.” This says it all. Each party is most concerned with getting or staying in power, not with the democratic process nor what’s best for the country.