Staff Reports
Joe Biden managed to shock absolutely no one by being two hours late to his grandiose NATO Summit presser in Washington, D.C. The president likely needed those extra hours to rehearse his answers meticulously from a pre-approved list of reporters because, heaven forbid, he answers an unexpected question. And let’s not forget his masterpiece performance with the teleprompter; nobody captivates an audience with stilted, robotic reading quite like Biden.
In classic Biden style, he kicked things off by mistakenly referring to Trump as his vice president. Picture the Democratic Party collectively holding their breath and popping antacids. One must sympathize with those poor souls tasked with transcribing this mess; Biden’s jumble of sentences and creepy whispering probably pushed them to the brink. Despite this linguistic chaos, Biden’s handlers managed to scrape through the event, keeping ol’ Joe breathing politically for a few more days.
Why Biden's NATO Presser Likely Frustrated the Dem Dump Biden Crowd https://t.co/Bk97qdLtBN
— JB (@JBRawhide) July 12, 2024
If this presser felt eerily similar to that disastrous ABC News interview, that’s because it was. Subpar, yet just enough to avert the Democratic apocalypse for now. No unicorn announcements about Biden’s departure were made despite rumors flying high. Folks might be holding out hope for clarity during his upcoming chit-chats with Lester Holt, but one mustn’t hold their breath.
Biden’s media circus soon rolls on to a session with a Black national media outlet during the NAACP Conference and then to another with a Latino national media outlet. It’s an obvious attempt to shore up support among key demographics, but with Biden’s years catching up with him, it remains to be seen if he can pull it off without putting his foot in his mouth.
Not everyone was left tearing their hair out, though. Biden’s foreign policy bluster and a wisecrack about Trump’s golf game earned some chuckles from Democrats. His moments of clarity were sparse, yet just enough to keep the party from imploding. The Democrats are sticking to him like barnacles on a sinking ship, seemingly resigned to their fate. A few prepared statements to jettison Biden were tucked back into desk drawers for another day.
Reality check: a whopping 75% of the country thinks Biden’s too old for the job. It doesn’t take a political scientist to know that’s a recipe for disaster electorally. The Democrats are stuck between a rock and a hard place; Biden’s their geriatric albatross, and Kamala’s not the savior they hoped for. All of this chaos plays right into the hands of a former president who’s making mincemeat of both Biden and Harris in the polls.
The presser’s an exercise in perception—they either saw the gaps and gaffes of an old man lost in his own script or a sharp leader ready for round two. The truth seems somewhere in the middle, but leaning heavily towards the former. He’ll keep chugging along, and the Democrats, holding onto their dear illusions, are just hoping not to crash and burn before 2024. Political purgatory sums it up perfectly. This ship isn’t sailing smoothly, and the clock is ticking.
