It sounded like Joe Biden’s funeral on CNN last night.
Immediately after the debate, I expected CNN’s panel of Democratic handmaidens to begin their usual contortions on how Biden is fit and spry. Instead, there seemed to be unanimous agreement: this is not the Joe Biden we know and love, not a man fit to take on Donald Trump and the rising specter of fascism, and there’s only one question that remains. In the words of their spiritual forebear, Vladimir Lenin: What Is To Be Done?
It now seems likely that Biden is toast. We saw elite opinion shift and reconsolidate in real time, as a panel of CNN big shots all warmed up to the idea of replacing Biden in the run-up to the election. Van Jones was on the verge of tears, and even Morning Joe said in his opening monologue this morning that it’s time to consider other options. Prominent Democratic voices — Friedman, Kristoff, Bruni — have already called on Biden to drop out. Overnight, virtually every mainstream outlet echoed some form of “Dems in panic, future in doubt” story, while devoting relatively little time to their usual Trump hysterics. That’s it, the floodgates have opened.
SELF-PARODY. After months of ‘Morning Joe’ defending Joe Biden as super-vigorous and mentally sharp, they throw in the towel on Biden and then Mika proclaims ‘So, as you can see, you won’t see us spinning here on Morning Joe.’ pic.twitter.com/W3DhESDC5D
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 28, 2024
CNN’s Van Jones practically in tears over Biden’s performance.
“That was painful.” pic.twitter.com/krbpVPVVbp
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 28, 2024
Which is all quite strange — I thought Biden did just fine.
Now, of course, I don’t mean this in a vacuum. As the leader of the free world, stuttering, losing your train of thought, and appearing glossy-eyed and confused is certainly a bad look. But this is about the best one can hope for from a man who’s made a habit of all of the fumbles. Biden looked and sounded exactly as everyone is already accustomed to seeing him.
He didn’t get completely chewed up by Trump, who was strategically reserved and mostly stood back to give Biden room to sink himself. If anything, Trump could have pushed a bit harder without crossing the line that would alienate housewives and swing voters. But Biden didn’t physically collapse, freeze up like a corpse, start bleeding from his face, or crap his pants on stage; those would have been real shockers. Instead, he performed about the best any reasonable observer could expect, blustering his way through a mish-mosh of semi-coherent talking points.
It’s Joever. pic.twitter.com/EVupaLfqai
— RAW EGG NATIONALIST (@Babygravy9) June 28, 2024
This just makes the media post-debate hyperventilation sound all the more contrived. No one in the media, who have all covered Biden intently for the past fours, could have realistically expected his debate performance to be anything other than what it was. So why are they acting all surprised?
Which begs the question: How much of this was coordinated?
With months of chanting “Genocide Joe,” “Climate Action Now,” and demands for reparations and student loan forgiveness, perhaps all the discontent of Biden’s left flank combined into the perfect storm? Like the Bolsheviks in 1917, perhaps they saw their chance, and took it. CNN panelists in the after-show kept noting how they received texts through the entire debate from Democratic operatives in all-out panic. With Biden faltering, perhaps the left flank began texting and calling every big name they knew in Democratic media, sowing mass panic and damaging Biden past the point of no return. (RELATED: Panicked Dems Scramble For Biden Replacement After ‘Disaster’ Debate Performance)
But if this was an intra-party coup, it’s a huge gamble. Just because they take down Biden doesn’t mean they’ll automatically emerge on top. But as the Bolsheviks well knew, along with every good revolutionary that followed them, the first step is to sow chaos for its own sake. Power can only be seized once the current order is destabilized. However, the establishment seems more likely to consolidate power now more than ever. Good luck to any Bernie Sanders insurgency; maybe they’ll finally get to learn about that Deep State those crazy Republicans have been complaining about.
So perhaps this was the top-down plan all along. It would make sense why the powers-that-be would choose to put Biden on stage knowing that this performance was inevitable. It would also help explain why the debate was set so early, an unprecedented event in presidential politics. They now have time to work the PR machine and gear up a new candidate in time for the August convention.
The media’s feigned shock and despair will be framed to make it all look organic: Biden was fine along, but then, for the first time in this debate, showed he is not up to the task, and now all people of Good Conscience realize he must be replaced — for his own sake, and the sake of the country. This is the lofty framing the establishment will use if they do indeed try to replace him.
If they could pass the buck smoothly onto Vice President Kamala Harris, this might work. The clear deception of the American people could be downplayed if there was a popular heir apparent ready to step up. But Harris is a non-starter, possibly the one person in Democratic politics more unpopular, unlikable and incompetent than Biden. Any replacement would require pure gamesmanship, as divergent candidate and coalition interests devolve into raw power politics that could hardly go unnoticed by the broader public.
We might never know who is pulling the strings, but it will be undeniably clear, even to the political layman, that someone is. It’s not that Americans got their first windfall of President Dementia in the debate last night. The debate merely confirmed what Americans have been fretting about for years, and that partisan media hacks told them they were crazy conspiracy theorists to even consider. Now, those same hacks flipped on a dime. If Biden gets replaced, it will be clear that the powers-that-be lied for years and covered Biden knowing full well the condition he was in, and only chose to replace him when his pliable patina of genteel moderation (i.e. senility) became more of a liability than an asset.
Such brazen deception of the American people — on top of the politically poisonous chaos that is sure to unfold — will not be forgiven lightly. It seems hard to see how Democrats can win with Biden, but it seems impossible to win without him. Either way, Republicans come away as the undeniable party of “normal.”
So the last option: Perhaps all the media and political power brokers believed their own bullshit all along. Perhaps they really did convince themselves Biden was fine, that selectively edited clips didn’t show the full context of his vigor, that he’s still coherent on the issues even if he makes the occasional gaffe. They’re such ideological zealots — driven by hatred for Trump and their own dreams of utopia — that they couldn’t see the obvious until it was blasted onto their TV screens for 90 consecutive minutes. Whatever happens next will be organic, as the voters decide whether they can tolerate re-nominating the man they saw on stage. Maybe we’ll finally get to see Democracy in Action which Democrats keep promising. (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Betting Odds Skyrocket As Biden Debate Performance Spirals)
Unfortunately, the public will likely never know the truth of what will unfold these next few months. Occam’s Razor suggests the simplest explanation — in this case, the latter one — is most likely correct. But never discount what a cabal of determined ideologues will do to hold onto power.
It appears Democrats think they have no choice but to replace Biden, so mark my words: Biden will not be running for president in 2024. And the reason why will certainly have nothing to do with democracy.
