There was no cover-up and there was nothing wrong with President Biden

[Quiet Em]

But even if something were to happen to President Biden we were in very capable hands with Vice President Kamala Harris. And it's becoming obvious that is where the real anger is.

[Clouds Passing]

1. President Biden is still a very agile man, mentally and physically. Kamala will make a superb president of the US.

They have both been cheated of their earned honor, as have we, the people of America.

The media in this country is a cabal of shameful liars and hucksters.

[usonian]

2. Throughout his term as president, Joe Biden fought fiercely for justice.

You can see acuity in the eyes. Eyes tell it all.

[calimary]

28. Why is that woman sitting next to a steaming trash heap?

I feel sorry for that woman. And she looks like she might be feeling a wee bit sorry for herself.

[ShazzieB]

35. Don't feel TOO sorry for her.

I'm sure she was well paid for that appearance!

Seriously, though, I have a feeling that the prenup must be heavily stacked in his favor, so she is trying to hang in there till he dies and she can be a wealthy widow instead of a screwed over ex. I'm not a Melania fan, but I actually wish her all the luck in the world with that. If she was divorcing him, I'd be rooting for her to squeeze every penny out of him that she could get.

[calimary]

37. I bet you're right.

That makes sense. And if she was divorcing him, I’d be right there with you, cheering her on.

[HappyH]

40. She is dreaming

of the time to come, when Donald is in the box?

[Attilatheblond]

44. Does she envision him with fires, ketchup, and a diet coke?

[usonian]

41. I am reminded of the Munsters episode "The Fregosi Emerald" ... and "The Fregosi Curse"

On her birthday, Marilyn is given the Fregosi emerald—a cursed ring that Grandpa won from Jack the Ripper in a poker game. Desperate to remove the curse, Herman travels with Lily and Grandpa to Detroit, Michigan, where the last surviving member of the Fregosi family is rumored to live.

That shiny "emerald" she got in marriage came with a curse. The groom.

And Fregosi can't undo it.

I thought it would feature baseball shortstop and manager Jim Fregosi. Sadly, not.

From Wikipedia:

James Louis "Jim" Fregosi was born on April 4, 1942, in San Francisco, California, and spent part of his youth growing up in nearby in San Mateo. He was the son of Archie and Margaret Fregosi and also spent time growing up in South San Francisco.

A right-handed batter, Fregosi is one of many notable alumni of Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball, and also ran track. Other graduates include Tom Brady, Barry Bonds, and Lynn Swann.

[chowder66]

62. I don't have one ounce of sympathy for her. She's just as rotten.

[jrthin]

80. One steaming trash heap sitting next to another steaming trash heap. What's the

problem? Like attracts like.

[Jack Valentino]

99. She is wondering "why hasn't this MF DIED, already??!!"

Came damn close last June, but no cigar.

[Skittles]

100. they use each other

both thoroughly disgusting people

[Ms. Toad]

79. In my experience, that isn't acuity - it's a lid and brow lift.

My spouse has had both. The unnatural tightness between the lid (they remove an elliptical section of skin in that area) and the pulled up corner of the brow (they remove a second elliptical shaped section above the outer corner of the eyelid).

I'm not throwing shade - just passing on my observation. My spouse had it done for medical reasons - both the lid and brow were interfering with her vision. But it has taken a lot to get used to the change in her appearance, so I'm attuned to noticing the appearance in others. In older pictures, Biden had lids similar to my spouse's (although not as bad) - with the lid drooping forward into the line of sight. If you look at the photo you posted, that skin area is now tight - not drooping into line of sight.

[Hekate]

81. Interesting

I can usually tell when people on tv a lot (politicians and journalists) have “had some work done” — and by now it is routine for older pols — but I didn’t know how to detail Biden’s eye work.

[Ms. Toad]

83. Look at older photos of his eyes.

His lids aren't as heavy as my spouse's were, but the difference from then to now is noticeable and similar to the change in my spouse's. I don't care one way or another, and It woudn't have jumped out at me - aside from living with my spouse's changes.

[usonian]

82. HINT: It's the sparkle.

I will say no more.

[Ms. Toad]

86. That same "sparkle" is now present in my spouse's eyes,

Although in her eyes it comes across more as an evil glint - which was not present before her surgery. I didn't comment on it initially, since it is harder to describe. It comes from making more of the eye visible, and is the third of three changes in her appearance as a result of surgery - and the one I find hardest to get used to. Now that I've seen it, I stands out when I see it in others. You just happened to pick one of the images of Biden which, at some point in the past, triggered me to go look for confirmation.

[everyonematters]

3. Here is what is important now.

Before the election, a strong majority of the voters felt that Biden was no longer up to the job. There was no way he was going to convince them that that was not the case, especially in a debate. That means there was no way he was going to win reelection. What is important now, is establishing how we are going win elections. Engaging in the debate about a coverup, plays into the Republicans hands.

[Keepthesoulalive]

4. The first lesson

Learn the media is not about democracy. They are the propaganda arm of the rich and entitled.
We need to stop depending on them to be honest and impartial. Now we need to find ways to work around them. Stop giving them deference, they have not been working for our country since they crapped on Jimmy Carter because he was not a Washington insider.

[yankee87]

26. MSM is Reich wing

When oligarchs own the media, what do you expect? They will never give Democrats fair reporting.
Since Ronnie Raygun took away the Fairness Doctrine, the media took a hard right turn.

[MichMan]

34. The Fairness Doctrine only applied to over the air broadcasts, not cable or internet media n/t

[rubbersole]

60. The real damage came with the Telecommunications Act.

Ownership restrictions were lifted and the uber-wealthy got complete control. Clickbait and eyeballs make profits and ideology goes unchecked with ownership monopolies. Newscorp, Sinclair, Cox etc are competing with hedge funds, Fortune100 media companies and data platforms to see who can be the biggest nazi. Musk is winning for now.

[ananda]

56. Now add that to the loss of civil and voting rights...

when the Supreme Court Republicans decided that
the country was no longer racist;.

[karynnj]

23. If you said, would not be up to another 4 years, you would be correct

and that was what the election was about. No polls asked if he was currently doing his job in a competent way, but that would be a different question.

[sop]

29. Had corporate media reported the facts, a strong majority of the voters would have known Trump was not up to the job.

That's the cover-up corporate media should be talking about now: their abject failure to do their jobs as "journalists," and the extent to which corporate media has become a propaganda arm of the Republican party. That's the scandal.

[OMGWTF]

49. Since Clinton and the "Great Clenis Hunt" I have been saying that when the autopsy is written on the USA,

the media will be found to be the cause of death. Democracy depends upon an informed citizenry. Too many are being lied to.

[Pisces]

102. Wrong, they knew and didn't care

[Dorian Gray]

109. I agree with you here

I think there are two things here that bug me.

1). Biden should have not run the second time. He should have endorsed a primary that would choose a competitive candidate. He was not well served by the people around him who told him mistruths about his popularity.

2) Biden also OBVIOUSLY isn't as frail as the Tapper book and press tour is making out. "They wanted to put him in a wheelchair!" Oh yeah? Then where the fuck is the wheel chair now? "Biggest scandal since Watergate!" Oh yeah? We all saw his health issues play out real time.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Denial is a powerful coping mechanism

And an important stage in the grieving process, but not a useful end in and of itself.

Refresher on the stages of grief:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

[emulatorloo]

8. If you expect rational DU'ers to "Accept" Trapper's half-truth hack job you might be in for a surprise.

Trapper’s narrative is beginning to collapse. See for example Jaime Harrison’s pushback on Trapper’s claim that Biden didn’t recognize him:

'You lost all credibility': Dem insider punches hole in Tapper's Biden book

https://www.rawstory.com/tapper-biden-book/

"It says that you had an interaction with President Biden where he didn't recognize you and you said to some other Democrat that wasn't good, right? I heard that you said this didn't happen, so did it happen or not?" Daniels prompted his guest.

"It was a bald-faced lie," Harrison shot back. "I don't know where the hell they got that from and I've told that to Alex. That is a bald-faced lie, and it frankly is pissing me off, excuse my language, that they continue to push it and say it."

"I have told them –– you know, unless I need to get a cognitive test, and I just totally forget all these things, but I'm, you know, I'm 49, but maybe I'll go to my doctor and get a check-up," he continued. "So for me it provides me all of what I need to know about what this book is about."

[Fiendish Thingy]

15. Tapper's book isn't the sole source of information about Biden's decline in functioning

Plenty of public info, including video, but also on the record, eye witness reports.

I’m not talking about claims of a cover up - if there was one, it was poorly executed, because the whole world could see Biden wasn’t functioning as well as he did just a year or two prior.

Biden’s administration was the most progressive since LBJ, however, his significant legacy, like LBJ’s, will be overshadowed, in Biden’s case, by a stubborn insistence on running for a second term, then dropping out far too late to give the Dems a fighting chance at winning.

I understand that is a painful reality for some to come to terms with, and I don’t begrudge anyone’s personal grieving process. I do however object when others insist we must grieve as they do, and support a denial of visible, verifiable facts.

[Quiet Em]

17. He moves a little slower and takes a little longer to put out his thoughts

so what? We all know he is older. There is nothing wrong with that. I'm not in denial. I just don't believe that being older is disqualifying.

[Fiendish Thingy]

21. Nothing wrong with that

Except that he would have lost in a landslide, and apparently refused to acknowledge that inevitability until it was far too late for Dems to recover and win.

[soldierant]

84. I'm not so sure he would have lost.

We were not so far off winning with Kamala - and a lot of voters who "just couldn't bring themselves to vote for a woman" would have turned out for him - because he isn't a woman. There a strong chance that would have turned the tide.

[Fiendish Thingy]

87. By June 2024, Biden was behind by double digits in every poll

Up to 20 points in some.

His loss would have been bigger than Harris’.

[soldierant]

88. In 2016 Hillary was way ahead in the polls.

[Bettie]

32. Like Clooney having a "Don't you know who I am!"

tantrum?

[themaguffin]

57. Oh, yeah, riiiight.

[karynnj]

64. There is a HUGE difference between not having what it takes for a successful campaign

AND not having the mental capacity to do his job as President.

In fact, I would argue Biden's ability to govern was always better than his ability to campaign. I can not think of any example where Biden made a mess of anything he did as President.

[Fiendish Thingy]

70. The problem is, he had to be a successful candidate before he could be president again

And that just wasn’t going to happen.

[karynnj]

91. I get that and agree that he should have made the decision not to run earlier

I get that many Democrats are angry or unhappy with him because of that.

However, the book and the RW meme goes far beyond that claiming the administration hid that he was not capable of doing the job. That is what Tapper says is worse than Watergate. Interesting he has not said that of Reagan.

The intent is to 1. Make it common knowledge that this actually happened. 2. To argue that everything then was very illegal. 3. To discredit every Democrat who had significant contact with Biden. The latter is why we need to address, not whether he should have run, but that he was performing well as President.

Note this is done by people who didn't care about Trump's 34 felonies or that he led a failed coup.

[W_HAMILTON]

73. And I remember when Hillary was dying because she collapsed during a 9/11 Memorial.

I trust Biden and his family, his medical team, and those that worked closest with him during his administration and are refuting the slander rather than internet doctors and anonymous sources that are too cowardly to put their name by their claims.

This isn't like a whistleblower working for the current administration or something -- Biden is out of fucking office and he cannot retaliate against them. And there is certainly no shortage of people (mostly those that know him the least) criticizing him, so why are these people afraid to go on their record?

[Fiendish Thingy]

76. Many people have gone on the record

Just not for Tapper’s book.

Right or wrong, The burden was on Biden to convince voters he was fit for office, when a significant percentage perceived him as unfit (I know, Trump was clearly more unfit, but that didn’t change the reality of how voters felt).

He didn’t persuade them, and his performance in the final months of his campaign actually confirmed many voters’ perceptions. The rest is history.

We don’t have to like it, but it doesn’t help to deny it.

[W_HAMILTON]

90. I agree, you don't have to like the truth, but please stop denying it.

The ones CLOSEST TO BIDEN have gone on the record and refuted the others -- many of which have remained completely anonymous.

Who do you think knows more about Biden's cognitive ability: his Vice President, his National Security Advisor, his Transportation Secretary, etc. or George fucking Clooney?

And the only reason this tired argument is being rehashed right now is because of the controversy surrounding Tapper's book, so, yes, the fact that he could write so much with so few people willing to go on the record and stand by claims that many ON THE RECORD have since refuted, that is an important fact in this discussion.

[Fiendish Thingy]

94. I know what my eyes saw and my ears heard

Those closest to Biden cannot be relied upon to provide objective information.

[W_HAMILTON]

95. lol, yes, those furthest away from him are the ones we should trust!

Again, when you saw Hillary faint, did you diagnose her with impending death?

I know you may have issues not trusting our longtime Democratic leaders that have shown absolutely no inkling to lie about things like these, but I do not.

I trust Biden and his family, I trust his medical team, I trust Kamala, I trust Pete, I trust Jake Sullivan, etc.

Right-wingers and sore losers on the left that never wanted Biden in the first place are the ones I don't trust, but you do you.

[Pisces]

103. I think you are arguing with trolls at this point. Everyone with eyes and ears should come to their own

Conclusion. How are we going to move past this and win if we have people plugging their ears and closing their eyes. I’m terrified for my children when sound reasoning has be lost by the majority of the electorate on both sides.

[Fiendish Thingy]

112. Trolls is too harsh and inaccurate of a descriptor

I have sympathy for folks who struggle with this reality, up to a point.

I agree, Critical thinking and sound reasoning will be essential for the challenges that face us, and the ones yet to appear.

But it’s also natural for folks to struggle with their own grief in coming to terms with painful realities.

[Pisces]

114. If our side, which I consider more intelligent, more reasonable, and more realistic is having difficulty coming

to terms with their painful reality what hope is there for the Trump voter????? They are deluded and deranged when it comes to Trump. This is terrifying. This man continues to destroy American values everyday and his sheep bleat on! We need to hold up the mirror and get on to the business of midterms and 2028!!

I feel like blaring 4 Non Blondes “ What’s Going On” .

[Fiendish Thingy]

115. Well, if SS or Medicare/medicaid collapses, denial will be impossible

Even the most ignorant person will know the checks aren’t coming anymore.

[Pisces]

101. I agree with everything you said. I am sad it has come to this for him. I wish he had better advisors.

I wish he would have stepped aside as he promised. Now we are here with his record being tarnished.

[Cosmocat]

110. Agree on some and disagree on other points

The one will note is that he pulled out too late for K to be able to win.

This is common thinking, but does not stand up to the facts.

She was more popular earlier in her campaign, very possibly would have won if the election had come within a month or two of her being the nominee. But, as the campaign went on she increasingly lost support.

This is because the right wins elections in this country by slander and hatred, and it took time for them to get on the same page with what they were going to scream about with her.

Same thing would have happened to whoever replaced Joe, just as they worked over three years to tear him down.

[themaguffin]

54. Oh ffs

[flashman13]

9. We as Democrats and progressives had four years to stop Trump and MAGA.

As a whole, we failed. The Justice Department in particular failed.

We let Trump control the narrative. The media was happy to go along with his version of reality. Again, we failed.

Stop the denial. Facing reality is the first step in undoing this national disaster. So far the Democratic establishment has not learned that lesson and is not getting the job done. Sternly written letters will not cut it. This is war. Act like it.

[Tommy Carcetti]

12. Nobody was denying that Biden was old.

Not even Biden himself.

Being old doesn't equate being incompetent or incapable though.

At least not in and of itself.

Sorry.

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. There is plenty of public evidence documenting Biden's decline in functioning

As good as he was as president, his decline made him a vulnerable candidate in 2024.

[Tommy Carcetti]

18. Again, nothing beyond the usual for a person of that age. nt

[Jose Garcia]

20. "For a person that age"

[Fiendish Thingy]

22. Should I believe you, or my own eyes? Nt

[Tommy Carcetti]

42. I'd probably rely on a medical report above all. Including your own eyes.

And unless there is some medical report out there that indicates President Biden was cogitatively impaired while in office, it's irresponsible to claim otherwise.

No offense to your own eyes, of course.

Or Dr. Jake Tapper.

[SocialDemocrat61]

43. Apparently there are several who are doctors

who personally examined Biden last year, in order to determine his ability to preform the duties of president.

[Fiendish Thingy]

48. And yet, we all agree that Trump is cognitively impaired

Even without a medical report (or one he provides that says the contrary.)

[Tommy Carcetti]

50. I can't say whether or not he is cognitively impaired.

He certainly seems to show traits of a personality disorder.

But that's different than being cognitively impaired.

[Fiendish Thingy]

69. You haven't noticed a significant decline in Trump's speech?

Becoming more disorganized and word salad-ish?

He’s always boasted and lied, but the past year or two, he can’t even articulate those clearly.

[Tommy Carcetti]

72. Perhaps but not to a degree of medical certainty.

He was saying bizarre and off the wall things all the way back in 2015. I'm not going to simply write that off as age-related cognitive impairment. He's been messed up in the head as long as I can remember.

[Fiendish Thingy]

74. It's noticeable and measureable

There have been articles about the reduction in his vocabulary (which was already limited), word substitution, mangling words, etc. all measurably worse than in 2015.

[WarGamer]

59. Which stage of grief is "belief in wild conspiracy theories"?

[Fiendish Thingy]

71. One doesn't have to believe in "Wild conspiracy theories" to acknowledge Biden's decline.

Like I said before, if there was a conspiracy to cover up Biden’s decline, they did a piss poor job of executing it.

[WarGamer]

75. I actually meant it the other way around...

One stage of grief must be rationalizing bad events with fantasy and catnip.

If he'd stepped down in 23 and allowed an energetic and vigorous Primary campaign... things would look very different today.

[Fiendish Thingy]

77. I strongly agree with you

Indeed, things would look quite different today if Biden hadn’t run for a second term and there was a normal primary season.

Rationalizing can be a form of Bargaining, one of the stages of grief, but it could also be a form of Denial or Acceptance, depending on how the rationalizing is utilized. (I’m a retired therapist)

The process can be different for every individual.

[fujiyamasan]

117. It does seem to be a stage in all political losses in recent years

[fujiyamasan]

68. This thread is depressing

I guess we should ignore our own eyes and ears, and all polling data before he decided to run again.

Everyone ages and everyone ages differently. Snd it was obvious that given how much Biden had going on (both as president and personally with his son), it was aging him even faster while in office.

[MacKasey]

6. Joe Biden needed a personal trainer

With a masseuse who could tell him when he was overdoing it

Also I would have him taking elderberry syrup, it would have helped that cough he has

Had Joe ride in on a bicycle and road circles around Trump for the first debate


He stayed too long in Europe and went right to that Clooney fund raiser in California , that where the problem was.

The Media is not his friend

[Midnight Writer]

7. Proof is in the pudding. Biden did a great job. Trump is doing permanent damage to our country every day.

Which President is demented? Incompetent? Irrational?

By every metric, our country and its people were far better off under "Sleepy Joe".

[calimary]

33. By EVERY measure.

Here’s the basic difference:
Joe Biden was focused on what was good for America (meaning: ALL of us).
Trump was AND IS focused on whatever is good for HIMSELF. Always and forever.

[Walleye]

10. Cover up shit. Joe Biden is one of the most honest people in politics.

[Tommy Carcetti]

11. He was an 81 year old man who talked and walked like the average 81 year old man would.

That's really the long and short of it.

Nothing more and nothing less.

[maxsolomon]

13. Nothing was wrong mentally. He could still make rational decisions.

He grew increasing frail, and his appearances were limited to obfuscate that change. Sorry you don't want to see that.

[ZDU]

14. They're racists...

They're sexists.
Fuck them

[moniss]

19. Excellent point and yes this

will be played as "she knew and covered it up" in order to handicap her going forward. Same playbook as they used on Hillary.

[Jose Garcia]

24. "We finally beat Medicare!"

It was abundantly clear after that debate that President Biden wasn't the same as he was just a few years earlier.

[Quiet Em]

25. He misspoke. That happens to everyone.

The con artist flat out lied and made up all kinds of shit.

Biden misspoke, started out a bit off, but regained as the debate went on and Biden won the debate.

[Jose Garcia]

31. "Biden won the debate"

Yes, it was such a huge success that Democratic leaders demanded that Biden drop out. Perhaps they felt bad for Trump and didn't want to see him humiliated by losing to Biden in a landslide.

[Celerity]

104. To claim Biden won the debate is a gobsmacking denial of reality.

It was a disastrous performance, one that never should have occurred. As soon as we lost the House, post 2022 elections, (and thus lost any real chance to further his legislative agenda) Biden should have kept his presidential election promises/framing that he would be a one term transitional POTUS.

That would have allowed for a normal primary to occur and would have vastly increased our chances at defeating the monster for a 2nd time.

[fujiyamasan]

118. The biggest mistake was looking at the party's relatively strong midterm performance

As a referendum on the presidency or support for another term. It was not. Even among democrats, exit polls in ‘22 showed little support for another term. It was absolute hubris on the part of the campaign to believe they could defy those headwinds.

Between all the international crises and the economic challenges with inflation, and the family problems with Hunter, he had perfectly valid reasons to wrap it up. Joe had a lot going on. The stress would have worn down a person half his age. His legacy would have been much better off, especially with democrats. It will take years for it to recover, and sadly it will likely be after he’s gone.

[Celerity]

120. We lost the 2022 national House vote by around 3 million, and lost it by around 6 million if CA is removed.

For years on here I have tried to warn about the Latino vote moving in a bad direction for us, as well as black men, Asians, etc. The fastest growing religious group in the US is Latino evangelicals. About 6 or so years ago, the US became the first nation (with a significant Latino population) whose Latino population was no longer over 50 per cent Catholic. Those Latino evangelicals are far more likely to be RW voters than the non Evangelical Latino groups.

[thought crime]

108. "They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats."

It was abundantly clear after that debate that Trump was the same as ever. And his supporters are fine with it.

Houston, we have a problem...

[et tu]

27. i think there is more

at play here: krasnov wants to invalidate everything
joe did and what would help him roll back and or do
away with all the good joe and the dems did? keep saying
that he was 'not well' and have extreme right wingers do
away with all 4 years of work. propaganda and they have
an agenda- you can bet on it.

[ShazzieB]

39. OMG, that makes a scary amount of sense!

I'm sure Schlump would like nothing better than to erase all of Joe's accomplishments. Argh!

[Ocelot II]

30. What was "wrong" with him was that he was 81 and showed it,

and whether he could have handled another term as president is a fair question. However, there doesn't seem to be significant evidence that he was unable to do his job at any point in his first term, or that someone else was making decisions or handling the work. The illnesses and weaknesses of presidents and other leaders have been kept out of the public eye since forever, and to a much greater degree than this. After Wilson had a stroke in 1919 his wife Edith was effectively the president, and his illness really was covered up. The public didn't know FDR almost always used a wheelchair. Hardly anybody knew JFK had Addison's disease, and Reagan's gradual decline into Alzheimers was downplayed or ignored. Biden was never a very good speaker, and his age made his voice weaker and his stutter harder to suppress, which made him seem more frail than he really is. What the public saw of Biden - his speeches and interviews - showcased his weakest attribute, but his day-to-day work of managing the executive branch was not seen, although the results were. And there's no evidence at all that he was weak or failing in those respects, or that anybody else was doing that work.

[Tommy Carcetti]

45. I recently watched former President Clinton give remarks at the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.

When I watched his speech, I heard how he had his seemingly characteristic--almost trademarked--heavy rasp in his voice.

Having followed him heavily over the decades, including in recent years, I had grown very accustomed to that raspy voice.

During his speech, he referenced remarks he made back in 1995 right after the bombing took place.

Curious I pulled up that 1995 speech.

I was fully expecting to hear that thick rasp in his voice during that particular address.

Instead, what I heard was a much clearer, stronger voice with barely any evidence of any type of rasp. His usual southern accent was there, but the rasp was certainly not.

I confess it threw me for a loop how much his voice had changed over the years, not to mention how much older and seemingly frailer he looked now.

Noticeably, however, I actually found his 2025 remarks to be even deeper and more poignant than his 1995 remarks. So clearly, he had not missed a step mentally, even though his voice and appearance seemed to say otherwise.

I don't think there's any difference when it comes to President Biden, either.

When people get older, their voice and gait inevitably deteriorate.

That should never in and of itself be considered evidence of a cognitive decline, however.

[Ocelot II]

46. The voice is one of the first things to go - it has to do with breathing support.

Your posture slumps, you don't exercise as much, and eventually your voice starts sounding weak and shaky. Even opera singers generally retire in their '50s or so because that kind of singing requires so much work. Regular people can keep from sounding so old with voice coaching or even singing lessons - especially older politicians who do a lot of public speaking.

[BurnDoubt]

36. This isn't helping. Don't get mired in the past. Move on. Fight today's battles. Keep your eye on the ball.

[Blues Heron]

38. I think Biden would have beat trump a second time. The power of incumbency is huge.

Giving that up was a mistake.

[Dreamer Tatum]

47. There's a major river in Africa I'm thinking of...nt

[betsuni]

51. This is what I keep coming back to. If anything happens, the VP takes over.

So why the panic? Biden wasn't coming up with new insane things that everyone jumps up to do, was no danger at all. What was so frightening? I-wouldn't-mind-if-a-VP-took-over-just-not-THAT-VP?

[Torchlight]

52. A lot of people toting Tapper's water for him.

It's been a miserable month of failures for Mr. trump, and pointing as many fingers at Pres. Biden as possible is a lot easier and less expensive than defending trump's cockups; six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[Paladin]

53. I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

On his very WORST day, Joe Biden was 100 times better a President than trump ever dreamed of being. Additional proof of this keeps roaring in, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. We're overdue for a national upheaval, in response to trump's wretched excesses, his utter stupidity, and his efforts to do away with our democracy and replace it with a police state. Enough!

[peggysue2]

55. The amazing thing is . . .

We have Agent Orange in the White House, someone who cannot voice or write a complete/thought sentence, a man who rants and raves about his perceived grievances and 'sacrifices' and is committing deliberate crimes on a daily basis vs. Joe Biden who worked his ass off for 4 years for the American people, a man who never bragged or boasted or threw shade on his fellow citizens, someone who genuinely loves the country and Her people. And yet . . .

Donald Trump is given the benefit of the doubt and Joe Biden is thrown to the wolves.

This is purposeful, willful sabotage because while this goes on (the endless distraction), the enemies of democracy are tearing apart our Republic, shredding the Constitution and undermining common decency and the rule of law. Our judges are now seeking their own protective agencies because of daily threats (and they obviously don't trust the DOJ), our economy is being rocked with volatility as Trump and his friends play the market and our security has been compromised by the moronic behavior of Trump's Cabinet of Misfits.

The media sees all this, knows all this but continues to sane-wash the corruption, the crimes and clear dysfunction.

This is purposeful, willful sabotage and Project 2025 is proceeding at a frightful rate.

[betsuni]

58. Also, Tapper thinks Jill Biden might've become so "enamored" of the fabulous First Lady Jackie O lifestyle that she

participated in the big fantasy cover-up worse than Watergate (OR MAYBE MASTERMINDED IT OMG).

The evidence: Jill was on the cover of Vogue three times during Biden's one term whereas Michelle Obama was on the cover of Vogue three times during two Obama terms.

[spanone]

61. CNN showed their true colors.

[Martin68]

63. Damn straight. Yes, Biden has slowed down, and he did underperform in the last debate. But there is a word of difference

between that and what the enemies of the Democratic Party are claiming.

[doc03]

65. I think either Biden or his staff pushed him to hard before the debate. I was worried about his performance

before the debate. Few people even younger than Biden would have been 100% after working his schedule the days before the debate.
Trump couldn't even stay awake for the Pope's funeral, but the media turned a blind eye to that.

[Cha]

66. Well Stated, Em!

Thank You!

No Kings Hands Off! 💙🌈

[Self Esteem]

67. I don't know if I'd say there was a cover up but there was definitely a refusal to address his biggest vulnerabilities.

His campaign and his staff failed to reassure American voters he had the mental acuity and stamina to handle four more years of the job. Poll after poll indicated Biden's biggest vulnerability as a candidate was his age and there was never a cohesive attempt to fix that narrative.

Biden held fewer interviews and press conferences than any president in modern history.

He stopped doing townhalls.

His campaign adopted a much quieter approach where they would focus on retail politics instead of big rallies and meeting with local press.

Biden even refused to go on favorable media shows like MSNBC.

He did an interview with Nicolle Wallace in the summer of 2023 and that was the last time he actually conducted a thorough interview with anyone from MSNBC until his final week in office when he sat down with Lawrence O'Donnell.

The reason this narrative sticks is because Biden wasn't out there proving it wrong.

Every public event was scripted - generally a 15 or so minute speech given to a small crowd before he jetted off.

That stuff adds up over time. Especially during a campaign. Biden needed to do more and he and his team refused to - for whatever reason.

And unfortunately, that's where the questions persist: why did they hold Biden back - a man who historically was known for his impromptu speeches and love of meeting with the press?

For Biden to have had any hope of winning in 2024, he needed to run a vigorous campaign. He was not. His campaign was constantly polling behind Trump - even before the debate - and there was always persistent concerns about his age. We needed him out in front of the media every day. We needed him holding town halls (his last town hall was at the end of 2022 - before that, he held one in 2021). We needed more press conferences.

None of that was there and so when the debate happened, and Biden put in maybe the worst performance of any presidential candidate ever, there was no going back ... because the campaign had failed to push back against the concerns for so long that at that point, no amount of strategy was going to fix the overall problem.

I sat in on a virtual meeting with Biden's pending reelection campaign in late 2023 that promised everyone on the call that Biden was going to run the most energetic, expansive campaign we've seen - that he was itching to get out in front of the voters and hold rallies since he felt robbed of that in 2020 with COVID. He was going to hit the ground running, starting with the SOTU speech and then go on a multi-state tour with VP Harris to push their agenda in front of large crowds. He was going to meet with the media members and put to bed the age issue because people would see he's up for the fight.

That was also the story he promised congressional Democrats - and a big reason many of them backed him without reservation early on.

None of that happened. The campaign's roll out was slower than expected. The 2024 SOTU speech was met with only a small rally the day after in Pennsylvania and then Georgia.

He held only a handful of rallies the rest of March.

Most were short speeches.

In this speech at a rally in Milwaukee, Biden's speech didn't even last ten minutes.

There were genuine concerns and the refusal of his team to address them has set this all up in motion. I do not believe Biden was mentally impaired but I do believe there were concerns about his ability to handle the rigors of a campaign and fair or not: the campaign is your chance to prove you have the energy to run the country for four more years.

In that regard, absolutely Biden's team failed him.

[fujiyamasan]

105. Good recap

I recall when he was inaugurated how much older he looked than when he was VP. The stress of the office definitely had an impact, along with Hunter’s legal issues.

It was sad and difficult listening to the Hur interview. He didn’t know which years he was VP, or when his son was in Afghanistan. The answers were long and rambling and not really relevant either. I get it, the timing was terrible coming right after the attacks in Israel, but he was the sitting president and could have rescheduled it.

By early ‘24 it was clear he couldn’t mount the kind of full throated campaign needed. My opinion is unpopular but I don’t come away with a good impression of anyone in his inner circle, including his family. Joe is a good and decent man, and I don’t think hacks like Donilon were even giving him the truth of how bad the campaign was going.

[Self Esteem]

113. Yes. Biden definitely aged a lot over the last eight years.

But I think what really hurt him optics wise was his fading voice and his worsening gait.

If you listen to Biden in 2016, then again in 2020 and finally 2024, you can hear the change. He wasn't as strong in 2020 as he was in 2016 and certainly not as strong in 2024 as he was in 2020.

Fair or not, the voice has an impact on perception and he sounded much weaker, and his stutter much more pronounced than when he was VP or even a candidate in 2020.

There's no better example of this than playing his 2020 debate performances and his 2024 debate performance back-to-back. You can see a very stark difference in tone, confidence, conciseness and clarity.

Biden was so much more active and forceful in the 2020 debates (even if he wasn't as strong as he had been in the 2012 VP debate) compared to 2024.

Meanwhile, Trump sounded the same. I think that's how Trump has been able to dodge the concerns about his mental state far more effectively than Biden.

1. His voice is loud and booming and confident and that can go along way toward perception.

2. Trump has a history of saying unhinged things. It's kinda baked into the cake now. He was unhinged back in 2016 so it's what people kinda expect.

3. Trump is everywhere. He appears way more active, even if he isn't, because he's mugging for cameras every day. I don't think there's been a day since he took office that I didn't see him on TV rambling about something. With Biden, his media presence was very limited and that made it very difficult to push back against the allegations that he declining. And when he did appear in front of the media, it went poorly at times...like his press conference after the Hur comments.

Which, sadly, does give fodder to those who claim they hid Biden's decline because it did seem like his staff did not trust him.

[cate94]

78. Agree 100%

[Blue Owl]

85. Hey Jake, TAP THIS...

[tritsofme]

89. I suppose there's not a ton of harm in indulging fantasies like this, but the denial in this thread is really something.

I believe I saw a comment arguing Biden actually won the debate. Yikes.

[Ace Rothstein]

92. Yeah, a whole lot of gaslighting going on here.

I know it is a highly partisan site but sometimes it can be over the top.

[North Coast Lawyer]

93. really?

Sorry, but there was a huge problem. Biden served his country long and well but he was in no condition to run for a 2nd term. His failure to step aside left no time for an actual primary and not time for a new campaign to find its feet. This failure greatly tarnished Biden's legacy. This failure has resulted in untold damage to our country and it's people that will take decades to reverse.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

96. BIDEN WORLD STRIKES BACK

Biden world has been fact checking Tapper's silly book. Tapper is a bad reporter who made up crap for this book

Link to tweet

According to this morning's Politico Playbook, after days of wall-to-wall hype for Original Sin—Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s $32 attempt at a Biden takedown—the cracks are already showing.

This time, it’s about a closed-door town hall in April 2024. Tapper and Thompson claim Biden “had trouble” answering pre-approved questions and that the footage was so bad, the campaign scrapped it.

Except—that’s not what happened.

Biden allies just dropped three never-before-seen ads from the event. Yes, they were polished. Yes, they tested them. But the idea they were unusable? That’s Tapper spin—unverifiable, uncorroborated, and now contradicted by the actual footage.

The kicker? Tapper defends his version with a quote from an “unnamed Biden adviser” he personally supplied to Playbook. Even Playbook couldn’t verify who said it. That’s the level of “fact-checking” behind this book.

This isn’t journalism. It’s a smear job dressed up as reporting, built on anonymous sources, cherry-picked anecdotes, and claims the actual people involved say are false.

Biden’s team isn’t just disputing Tapper’s narrative—they’re dismantling it, piece by piece.

And Tapper’s credibility? It’s unraveling just as fast.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

97. Fmr DNC Chair Jaime Harrrison dubbed this book a A BOLD FACED LIE

This book is full of bald face lies

Link to tweet

[haydukelives]

98. And people wonder

why Democrats keep loosing. The delusion continues...

[Aussie105]

106. Part of establishing and legitimizing a dictatorship . . .

Is to rewrite history.

Demonizing past leaders is part of that.

Need to 'prove' the current leadership is superior to anything in the past, and everything is fine.

. . . but I can't wait until Trump is history and people will wake up and say what was wrong with him, as a person, a family man, and a political leader. And the damage he has done.
Some big tomes will be written on the subject, to be sure!

And the media, that is collectively ignoring Trump's poor communication skills, his lack of understanding of the job, Trump's mental state and abusive misuse of power, will have a lot of apologising to do.
Hopefully, some will not survive the upcoming NAoSaR (New Age of Sanity and Responsibility).

All we need is for Trump to exit the stage, and Tapper to go soak his head.

[Patton French]

107. Indeed, and he had plenty of support.

It was a travesty.

[doc03]

111. Whether there was a cover-up or not it was pretty obvious to me Biden was not up

to another 4 years. He was a good president, but each time I saw him the last few months I worried he would
have a have a stroke or something as he spoke. With Trump I pray he does have a stroke or massive heart attack every time
I see him.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

116. Maybe mass amnesia?

President Biden was NOT the Democratic candidate; VP Harris was. Her campaign reportedly broke record contributions, her rallies were epic, her endorsements , etc., etc.

Kamala Harris was the Democratic candidate for president 2024. Not President Biden.

But now the fate of America and its inevitable demise is all because a successful incumbent president didn't get out of the way fast enough. If only Biden had ___________ (fill in the blank) we wouldn't all be prisoners of psychotic criminal assholes.

I don't appreciate the many condescending comments on this thread that those of us who refuse to trash President Biden and scapegoat him for everything happening at the hands of MAGAt Republicans are blind and in denial and are to be tolerantly pitied.

I don't understand the need to beat the same damn denial drum over and over, or the utter insistence that Democrats are to blame for MAGAt/Republican corruption.

And I hate that MAGAt Republicans appreciate and ultimately always benefit from it!!

[Quiet Em]

119. I didn't appreciate the condescending comments either.

I came to realise that many of those commenters align with the Dean Phillips view. My view aligns more with Jasmine Crockett's. And I know for a fact that Jasmine Crockett's view is more in line with the Democratic Party as a whole than the Dean Phillips' view.

And you are absolutely right. The insistence of blaming Democrats for the MAGA/Republican corruption plays right into the Republicans hands.