Joe Biden was bad last night.
Really bad.
At times, the sitting President of the United States mumbled inaudibly.
At other times, he seemed as though he didn’t understand the policy or legal mechanics behind what he was discussing.
And worse still, at other times, Biden spoke incoherently. In short, Joe Biden looked every day his 81-years-old, like someone had dragged him from his nursing home rocking chair and propped him up in front of a national TV audience to debate.
Actually, Biden was bad enough, old enough, that for me – and perhaps many other Americans – he elicited sympathy and pity rather than derision or humor.
What was happening didn’t seem appropriate. Hitting back against Biden seemed more like bullying than debate sport like it would have been elder abuse.
I think Donald Trump sensed it, too. Trump, perhaps the biggest bully in modern political history – brash, rude, and irreverent – took it easy on Biden; Trump, the chronically unrestrainable, actually exercised relative restraint last night as if he recognized that hitting Biden too hard would be bad form.
But the most profound takeaway from last night’s debate, a confirmation of a long-held suspicion: Biden is not fit to be president.
Not now.
And certainly not four years from now.
While debates are just debates, and one should be careful not to extrapolate too much from a 90-minute CNN special, the version of Biden that appeared last night was nakedly and obviously incapable of serving as president—a truth requiring an immediate follow-up question: Who can replace Biden?
Who can replace Biden?
The question deserves to be asked, and should have been debated seriously, like, two years ago. But now, in June 2024, the likelihood that Biden is replaced, despite last night’s debate debacle, is almost zero. True, Democrats are scrambling this morning to find a replacement, to pressure Biden to step down; my coworker is calling his congressional representatives to encourage them to pressure Biden into stepping down.
But Biden isn’t going to step down. And no one is going to step up to challenge him. The Democrat Party is going to stay the course, stubbornly and meekly, as they have for years. No, Biden’s nomination was preordained and won’t change now.
There’s something undemocratic about Biden being the nominee when the collective seems opposed to the idea. And there’s definitely something undemocratic about an invalid occupying the White House while someone else, presumably an unelected staffer or two, carries out the functions of the presidency – which, having watched Biden try to think on stage last night, seems the most likely day-to-day reality of the Biden administration.
Biden needs to step down, but he won’t. Instead, the Democratic Party will Weekend at Bernie’s Biden all the way to November, at which point the American people will decide. A lot can happen between now and November, and Trump himself is uniquely unpopular, too. But after last night, Trump must like his chances of reelection, as I certainly do.
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
