And the excuse-making begins!
Now, at least one Biden aide has come out and claimed that the president was not sufficiently rested, and that’s why he did poorly in the debate. This is just too much.
For seven days, Biden was not seen by the public as he was preparing for the debate at Camp David, which one person in Biden’s circle told Axios came at his detriment.
“He was over-prepared and relying on minutiae when all that mattered was vigor and energy,” a Biden adviser told the outlet. “They prepared him for the wrong debate. He was over-prepared when what he needed was rest. It’s confounding.”
Rather than proving Biden was ready to go toe-to-toe with former President Donald Trump and beat him a second time, his stilted performance struck supporters and critics alike as a showing of his vulnerabilities.
OK, there’s a lot in the statement.
First: “Vigor and energy?” Joe Biden hasn’t had much vigor or energy in years. How many days has he spent sunning himself on a Delaware beach since he assumed the presidency? For that matter, is this aide claiming that in an entire week of debate prep at Camp David, the president somehow didn’t manage a solid eight hours of sleep a night?
Second: “Over-prepared?” How so? The president laid out a stunning array of half-truths, garbled misstatements, and outright lies. How can one be over-prepared when that’s all he ever has?
See Related: Told Ya So: James Rosen Reminds of What Happened After Directly Questioning Biden on Cognitive Concerns
The Viral Biden Brain Freeze Debate Moment That Raises the Greater Question: Who’s Running the Country?
But leave it to Van Jones to unwittingly reveal the real zinger:
At times speaking in a whisper, the 81-year-old president missed his chance to ease voters’ concerns that his age wouldn’t be an issue, according to Van Jones, a one-time adviser to then-President Barack Obama and a strong supporter of Biden.
“He’s a good man, he loves his country, he’s doing the best that he can,” Jones said. “But he had a chance … tonight to restore confidence of the country and of the base, and he failed to do that. And I think there are a lot of people who are going to want to see him take a different course now.”
He’s doing the best he can. This man is the supposed leader of the free world. He’s the commander-in-chief of all our armed forces and has the authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons. He leads the executive branch of the most powerful nation in the history of mankind. The presidency comes with vast responsibilities and the power to make life-or-death decisions involving thousands to millions of people, and all Van Jones has to offer is “…he’s doing the best he can?” Really?
This has to be the most staggeringly unaware statement of the month.
Say what you will about Donald Trump, but you won’t find many complaining about his lack of vigor.
Van Jones is correct in one respect; it’s time for Joe Biden to take a different course, that course being resignation. He can claim it’s to spend more time with his family — I seem to remember he has a son who has some legal issues — or for reasons of health, or because magic pixies from space told him to. But for the good of the country, he should resign.
But let’s be honest about at least one thing: Joe Biden has always done what’s best for Joe Biden, not for the country.
