What a difference a month makes! In July, President Joe Biden was supposedly committed to his candidacy while recovering from a “bad night” in his first debate against President Donald Trump. Biden blamed his atrocious performance on being “exhausted” and “sick” from extensive international travel.
In a July 8 letter to his fellow Democrats in Congress, Biden wrote, “The debate about me running is over. I’m running. I was voted for by 14 million people in the Democratic primary. Are you trying to take away their voice? We’re done with this.”
Biden made a similar vow during an ABC interview after the debate. He claimed only the “Lord Almighty” would force him to end his campaign. According to Biden, he would stay in the race because the Democratic Party leaders were behind him and “the Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
Well, it did not take the “Lord Almighty” to remove Biden from the race, only former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a host of other Democratic Party leaders. One Democratic Party operative, given anonymity, told Politico, “Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard way. She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way.”
Of course, the “hard way” would have been more Democratic Party leaders publicly demanding his departure and possibly his removal via the 25th Amendment, with the support of Vice President Kamala Harris and most of the cabinet. Biden did not want that type of exit, so with his hand forced and his back up against the wall, he released a bombshell letter on the social media site X on July 21 leaving the race.
In the letter, Biden wrote, “while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that Biden “was gone in one weekend with the handprints of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries on the president’s back.”
While the end happened abruptly and it was the result she wanted, the lengthy process to convince Biden to withdraw from the race seemingly irked Pelosi. She blasted Biden’s team of advisers, telling David Remnick of The New Yorker, “I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation.”
In another dig, Pelosi told the New York Times, Biden’s exit letter “didn’t sound like Joe Biden to me. It really didn’t.” Obviously, Biden did not write the letter, nor does he write his speeches or much else in his state of mental decline. Yet, it was a gratuitous dig from a former House Speaker who Biden had claimed was “the most consequential” in American history.
Pelosi and her fellow Democrats want to quickly forget Biden and transition from a President with only a 38% approval rating to a candidate who projects “joy” and has only “good vibes.” Never mind that Harris did not win one primary, earn one delegate or secure one vote. She was installed in a Democratic Party coup that is unprecedented in American history.
The coronation of Kamala Harris precluded the possibility of a “mini-primary” or other candidates entering the race. It was a mad rush to endorse her and show “unity.”
As the campaign progresses, Democrats and their media allies will not focus on the fact that Harris is the “border czar,” in fact, they will deny it. In speeches, she will continue to condemn the current economic situation and conveniently forget her frequent praise of “Bidenomics.”
The solutions that Harris is proposing are either stolen from President Trump, such as the “no tax on tips” pledge, or stolen from Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, such as her ludicrous proposal for price controls.
Either way, Harris does not have to defend these ideas because she has not submitted to a news conference or an interview in 28 days. Some of her supporters in the media and the Democratic Party want Harris to continue to hide from questions and run a “feel good” campaign for the remainder of the election.
Harris has promised to accept an interview by the end of the month, but it will surely be with a friendly reporter. The only other occasion for questions will be during the presidential debate on September 10. Fortunately for Harris the debate will feature liberal moderators and be aired on a liberal network.
Right now, Harris is riding high on positive press and enthusiasm from her supporters. In the Real Clear Politics average of polls, Harris is ahead of Trump by 1.4%, in stark contrast to Biden, who was losing to Trump.
As the media gushes over Harris, what will happen to Biden? Biden has done one event with Harris, but he has also lounged on the beach in Delaware. His schedule is more relaxed and includes more non-political activities, like his trip to New Orleans extolling a federal government grant for cancer research. In his speech, at an event touting possible breakthroughs in cancer research, Biden started whispering and shouting again, reminding everyone that he is not all there.
In a CBS interview after he left the race, Biden admitted that “my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought I was going to hurt them in the races and I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic.”
Yes, Biden accomplished that goal for his party, and he is now the forgotten man. During the Democratic National Convention, Biden was given a speaking slot on Monday night. As President Trump said in a recent speech, Monday night is “the worst day” for any speaker during the convention.
Democrats and their media friends want the American people to quickly forget about the Biden record and just buy into the Harris hype, no questions asked.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
