Jack Tame: The Biden problem isn't going away

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

It’s two weeks since Joe Biden and that disastrous debate, and still the drum steadily beats.

I’m obsessed with this story. Obsessed! I think this is an absolutely monumental moment in global politics. Every morning I wake up, grab my phone, and immediately check my news apps. Is he still in the race?

In a way, I suppose, you have to hand it to him and his team. Not once has Biden publicly expressed anything other than absolute total commitment to remaining the Democrats’ nominee. He knows that the moment he publicly expresses a scintilla of doubt, it’s all over.

But the more I’ve reflected on that debate, the more I find the response of the White House and Biden’s supporters, kind of insulting.

They’re gaslighting by trying to convince hundreds of millions of people to un-see what they saw. Don’t forget, Joe Biden asked for the debate. It was held entirely on his terms. He publicly promoted it as a moment in which he would prove to everyone he still had his edge. And in that moment, he was incoherent.

So far, few of Biden’s colleagues have come out and explicitly called on him to stand down. Again, it’s gaslighting. They saw what we saw. And you just know that all of the conversations being held behind closed doors are exactly the same as this one. They just don’t want to risk their own skins.

George Clooney’s op-ed was particularly devastating, this week. Not because Clooney is a Hollywood movie star, but because as someone co-ordinating fundraising campaigns worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, he thinks Biden needs to stand down. Like everything in U.S. politics, it pays to follow the money. Would you stake your fortune on Biden right now?

The post-NATO press conference yesterday was the first one of its kind that Biden has held in eight months. Forget his performance. Forget his competence and comfort with foreign policy and the fact he made several gaffes with names and introductions. Eight months! The fact alone tells you more about Biden’s state and capacity than anything else you need to know.

NATO is done. The Democrats convention is next month. If they’re gonna force him out, they’ve got a few weeks to act.

Two weeks deep though, it’s clear this story and this issue are not going away. With every bad poll, every donor with cold feet, the pressure is sustained. And fundamentally, the news will not move on because the problem hasn’t gone away.

And here’s the thing: It won’t go away. To campaign for President you have to be out in public, day after day after day. It requires vast energy. There will be more gaffes. There will be more blunders. There will be more moments of incoherence. And with every instance, voters will be left wondering… if this is Biden now… how’s he gonna be in another four years?

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