The Implosion of Joe Biden

And the demise of the cheapfake defense

The visuals were devastating

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Last Thursday’s presidential debate was a gruesome and frightening spectacle.

People who think that Joe Biden is too old to run for a second term—a solid bipartisan majority of the American people—had their worst suspicions confirmed. The President of the United States looked tired, frail, confused, and distracted. His voice was soft and hoarse. He had a cough. When Trump was speaking, Biden’s face assumed a vacant, slack-jawed, glassy-eyed expression. His answers to questions were meandering, confused, often trailing off into a non sequitur or a bout of incoherent mumbling.

“We finally beat Medicare.” Okay, Joe…

Even when the moderators served up a question on abortion, an issue highly favorable to him, Biden blew it. His answer wandered all over the place, with family members raping one another and a bizarre detour into the issue that’s worst for him: illegal immigration.

For me, however, Biden’s worst moment came when he reminded Americans that whereas American troops were being killed in action under Trump, none have been killed on his, Biden’s, watch. Was the President simply lying, or has he honestly forgotten that thirteen American service members were killed in Kabul during the Greatest Airlift in History, otherwise known as America’s disorderly, disgraceful abandonment of Afghanistan? And has he honestly forgotten that three more service members have been killed in the Middle East? Who can say?

Halfway through the debate, the President seemed to rally a bit. But by that time, the damage had been done. And if Team Biden expected Trump to help their guy over the finish line by melting down, they were disappointed. The former president performed well—for him. He had some bad moments, told some whoppers, and his final pitch was none too compelling. Still, Trump was surprisingly disciplined and he scored points, such as when he criticized Biden over Afghanistan and asked him why no one had been fired in the aftermath of that debacle. It was not only a good question but a clever allusion to his previous incarnation as maestro of The Apprentice.

But it was the split screen that was Biden’s real nemesis. One picture isn’t always worth a thousand words, but in this case the visuals were devastating. Donald Trump is only a couple of years younger than Joe Biden, but next to the President he appeared ten or fifteen years younger. Trump was present on the debate stage; Biden was barely there. And that image was delivered in real time: The cheapfake defense couldn’t explain it away.

So instead, Biden family members have pointed the finger of blame at the President’s top campaign advisers who, they allege, failed properly to prepare the Big Guy for his big night. He was worked too hard during debate prep, the family complained, and was not well rested. People should be fired. That, to borrow from Bidenspeak, is malarky. If the campaign advisors are to be blamed for anything, it’s for their participation in the coverup of Biden’s decrepitude—blame of which the lion’s share is borne by the White House staff and the Biden family.

How the Democratic Party managed to paint itself into this corner will be the political story of the decade, if not the century. For it isn’t just the Biden presidency that has been blown up, but the whole black-and-white, good-and-evil narrative at the heart of the party’s strategy for 2024. It was to portray Donald Trump as an existential threat—an American Mussolini scheming to destroy “our democracy.” And who was their champion, the only man who could vanquish the Ogre Trump? It was Joe Biden, an old man in a hurry who was showing signs of mental and physical decline as early as the 2020 election season. It was the man we saw on the debate stage last Thursday, a man clearly incapable of discharging the duties of his high office.

The people closest to Biden knew the truth about him. And what did they do? They engineered a coverup in an effort, ultimately futile, to hide the truth from the American people. How can they now be taken seriously when they claim to be defending “our democracy”? How can we believe a single thing they say? And how can we trust the media, which with a few exceptions so credulously swallowed the lies coming out of the White House and promoted the party line?

Indeed, the alacrity with which various media outlets abandoned the President, calling for him to drop out of the race, betrays a certain consciousness of guilt. Journalists and pundits may not have had certain knowledge of Biden’s condition, but most of them did nothing to ascertain the facts. Their sudden volte-face should fool no one—though it’s a political gift to the Trump campaign and the GOP. As National Review Online’s Noah Rothman put it, there’s no coming back from this.

It now seems likely, if not absolutely certain, that Donald J. Trump will be returning to the White House in 2024. If that happens, I for one will know whom to blame. Joe Scarborough, hang your head in shame.