Calamity Joe

Despite insisting that he would stay in the battle, Joe Biden has finally realised that his time in the presidential election race is over, pulling out on Sunday due to pressure from his own party. This follows his dire performance in the debate three weeks ago, and mounting speculation that Biden would make the sensible choice and pass the torch to a less senile (albeit no less unworthy) candidate.

This farce has been going on for weeks, and the demands have been persistently mounting on Biden after he demonstrated countless times recently that he is not sufficiently cognitively stable to run the country. Last month during a G7 meeting, where leaders gathered to watch parachute jumpers fall from the sky with the flags of allied nations, footage was released of the president wandering off before the pictures were taken; PM Giorgia Meloni had to usher him back like a toddler. In the first presidential debate with Trump, Biden had a ‘brain freeze’ after he mumbled incomprehensible gibberish during his turn; and recently he inexcusably introduced President Zelensky as his nemesis ‘President Putin’, and his Vice President Kamala Harris as ‘Vice President Trump’. He attempted to excuse his mistakes by stating he is “too focused on beating Putin”.

The White House did not help either, as they continued to hide the truth. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got into a heated debate with reporters during a briefing, when she defended the President’s health, stating that he has not had a check since February; Pierre blamed his ‘dull’ performance in the debate on ‘jet lag’ and’ travel fatigue’. However, on the same day Biden himself ‘accidentally’ told the Democratic governors that he was ‘cleared’ by his doctor after the debate, and that his health was good.

Even members of his own party (almost two-thirds) were gearing up to replace him, and 36 lawmakers had publicly called for him to bow out of the race. These include Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, who both privately urged him to reconsider his run for office. Four congressmen released a joint statement saying: “it is now time for you to pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders.” And a new campaign ‘Pass the Torch’, set up by a grassroots group calling for the President to step down, has been held outside the White House, with approximately 100 people in attendance. This was also going to be launched as an advert, which would air in the breaks of Biden’s favourite news programme.

Biden is not well, his own party was pushing for him to step down and his own people were losing trust in him: two in three Americans believed that Biden should end his campaign based on his performance during his first debate and, by a 67% to 30% margin, Americans thought Biden should step aside and let someone else run rather than continue his campaign for president. Why did it take him so long to realise that his incompetence and stubbornness were running his party into the mire?

Biden will continue to campaign, but will be not seeking a second term and has endorsed Kamala Harris, his Vice President, to run as party leader, claiming she is an ‘extraordinary working partner’. It is not certain that she will be at the helm, however, it is very likely as there have not been any other candidates from the party announcing that they are going to run. The expectation of Harris becoming President has also energised more donors to the party, with the Democratic party fundraising organisation ActBlue confirming it has raised $46.7 million, hours after she started her campaign.

However, polls taken after Biden’s debate performance against Trump have not suggested that Harris is any likelier than Biden to beat Trump in November. For example, an Economist/YouGov poll released last week found Biden would lose to Trump 41 percent to 43 percent. The poll showed Harris losing to Trump by a wider margin of 39 percent to 44 percent.

Harris also has controversial policies, including support for the death penalty, penalising parents for their children’s truancy, and supporting legislation that would protect the right to abortion and pump hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits for renewable energy and electric cars.

The Democrats are weak; they are turning this race into a self-inflicted defeat. There may be no way back for them, especially with Harris as the leader; she may not be senile, but she is perhaps more controversial than Biden. She is also prone to gaffes, being once described as the United States’ Diane Abbott. A compilation of her greatest hits was put together by Sky News Australia. This will be great news for the Republicans and Donald Trump, who now seems to have a clear run to the finish line, with no obstacles in the way.

Jack Watson has a Substack newsletter called Ten Foot Tigers about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe here.

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