By Eric-Woods Erickson
Ron Fournier is a veteran Washington reporter who once wrote at The Atlantic and then served as Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press. He once told me that what he always found most interesting in political coverage was not what partisans said about each other, but what partisans said about their own side. A Republican offering up critiques of his own side was more newsworthy than Republicans offering critiques of Democrats. Democrats offering critiques of Democrats was more newsworthy than Democrats offering critiques of Republicans. His point has stuck with me, and I noticed the public silence of Democrats overnight after revelations that the Special Prosecutor found Joe Biden too mentally unsound to stand trial for what would otherwise be prosecutable crimes. In fact, they are the crimes for which the Biden Administration intends to prosecute Donald Trump.
There is a noticeable public silence. But privately, Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed.
Barack Obama already told Joe Biden that Obama did not think Biden’s team was proficient enough to run against Trump. Obama urged Biden to move his top people to the campaign.
Instead, last night, Biden held a press conference to insist his memory was fine and confused the Presidents of Mexico and Egypt. Members of the press rushed to Biden’s defense, claiming this was a common faux pas, but it did not help him after the Special Prosecutor portrayed him as a doddering old fool prone to forgetfulness. That reinforces his political team is not competent.
Biden’s team won’t let him do a Super Bowl interview. They won’t let him have long, free press interviews with unscripted questions from reporters not pre-screened and sorted.
Every red flag about Biden is now suddenly up at once. The public thinks he is too old, and the Special Prosecutor thinks Biden is not mentally fit for trial. That raises too many questions.
It was political malpractice for Biden’s team to rush him into a press conference where he confused the Mexican and Egyptian Presidents. It shows Barack Obama’s concerns are well-founded.
For me, at least, it was notable overnight that Democratic strategists who had been open in the past with their concerns about Biden were noticeably quiet. They know they have a problem. They just are not sure how to proceed.
Their problem is made worse by Kamala Harris being America’s most unpopular national politician. They cannot toss Harris. They cannot bypass her for the nomination even though so many think Andy Beshear of Kentucky would be a better nominee. They think Gavin Newsom is too progressive for swing state voters.
Democrats are in a real bind.
The President of the United States could not remember when he served as Vice President. He could not remember when his son died. He could not remember basic questions. The White House defense is that the Special Prosecutor interviewed Biden after the Hamas attack on Israel — which suggests Biden’s memory melts down under pressure.
Biden’s lawyers had to revise their statement insisting Biden is mentally competent because to claim he is would open him to prosecution.
We are now in a world where the Biden Administration is prosecuting the Republican rival for his handling of classified documents while passing on prosecuting Biden for the same thing because they believe the former is competent to stand trial and the latter is too senile.
Do they really think this is a winning argument for 2024? Don’t look now, but Trump is already leading in the polls in most swing states. All the Democrats who insisted the 25th Amendment needed to be deployed against Trump are strangely silent as the sun rises today. But the Biden Justice Department has determined Joe Biden is too mentally impaired to stand trial.
That is a really big deal.
So, he should lead the nation? This is where we are. Trump literally has bragging rights that the Biden team thinks he, not Biden, is mentally competent.
Well done, Democrats. Both parties have become cults of personalities, but only one is mentally competent to stand trial — and that’s based on the judgment of Joe Biden’s Justice Department, which finds Joe Biden is not the competent one.
Additionally, think of all the reporters who have covered for Biden’s decline. They will be compelled to attack the Special Prosecutor to distract from their water carrying. Consider just Greg Sargeant who used to be at the Washington Post and is now at the leftwing New Republic. He is now actively arguing Biden’s memory is not the big story. It’s hard to believe the Washington Post let that genius go. So much of the White House press corp and the MSNBC cohort have protected Biden and are now angry the Special Prosecutor spoke truthfully about what they have tried to cover up.
Perhaps the spirit of Aloha will resolve this issue.