President Joe Biden is no hero.
He is a purely transactional, thin-skinned career politician blessed with the gift of failing up. His family motto may just as well be, "What's in it for me?" He is certainly not George Washington, though you'd think otherwise after following the news this week.
On Wednesday, Biden delivered an address from the Oval Office, explaining his July 21 decision to end his reelection effort. Though his speech was heavy on reasons why the very survival of the United States depends on Democrats maintaining control of the White House, it was light on explaining why he is no longer running for reelection.
"America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division," Biden said. "I ran for president four years ago because I believed and still do that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And that's still the case."
"When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth," he said before adding later, "I'm the first president this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world."
Hours before his address, the Pentagon announced airstrikes in Yemen.
"[T]he sacred cause of this country is larger than any one of us," Biden's address continued. "And those of us who cheri[sh] that cause — cherish it so much — the cause of American democracy itself — must unite to protect it … Let's act together to preserve our democracy."
Even before the president had said a word from the Oval Office, members of the press were hailing him as a selfless hero for finally succumbing to the Democratic pressure campaign to force him from the 2024 ticket. But – boy! – if you thought journalists and pundits were laying it on thick before Wednesday’s address, you hadn't seen anything yet. To hear journalists and pundits describe the president's speech, he did not just speak to the nation, but also changed water into wine.
"Tonight," said ABC News anchor David Muir, "gratitude is the word for so many people in this country, pointing to Joe Biden now and calling him a patriot who stepped in when democracy needed it."
At CNN, anchor Abby Phillip declared, "This moment puts [Biden], you know, with a bunch of American greats, you know, the sort of George Washingtons of the world. He's stepping away from power. If he stays in that lane, I think that will be so much more powerful and impactful.”
During a Wednesday appearance on CNN, Democratic strategist David Axelrod insisted, "He's done an unnatural thing – very rare in the annals of history – he stepped away from power, and he did it in the interests of the country."
Added Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, "If you cannot appreciate the dignity, the grace, the selflessness, the patriotism of that speech - akin to Washington's farewell - but instead feel compelled to denigrate him, nitpick or return to petty partisan politics I pity you. You're denying yourself the majesty, the inspiration of America and of a great president. Go self-reflect."
Biden is "somebody who devoted his life, his whole adult life, to politics," explained MSNBC anchor Joy Reid. "But this was selfless. This was selfless, I think, on a level that's important in a way that we talk about George Washington being selfless."
Oh, come on. What rot. What nonsense. What an attempt to rewrite the historical record.
Biden is not a modern-day Founding Father with nothing but the love of country in his heart. He's not a patriot selflessly passing the torch. Party leaders had to wrestle the torch from his cold, feeble hands. The truth of the final, pitiful chapter of Biden's extensive career as a fixture of American bureaucracy is he was given two options by Democratic leaders: Resign with dignity or be dragged from office with your teeth marks still on it. What else could Democratic leadership do?
Biden outed himself during the June 27 presidential debate, revealing he can barely formulate a coherent thought, let alone serve as the leader of the world's leading nuclear superpower. Biden crashed so hard in the debate, leaving little doubt he would go on to lose not just the general election but also several offices down ballot, that his party was left with no choice but to give him the heave-ho. It wasn't easy.
Democrats started first with the carrot but transitioned eventually to the stick, enlisting the aid of the entire news industry to bury the White House under a mountain of utterly damning news coverage. Biden had to be shamed, cajoled and threatened to abandon his reelection effort. Only after nearly a month of this did he decide to end his campaign, which he announced via a screenshot on Twitter.
The president did not come to this decision because he recognized he was not up to the job or because he came to understand the White House was not his personal retirement home. He ended his campaign because his colleagues and the media left him no better alternative. Biden said as much in his supposedly George Washington-esque Oval Office address.
"I've given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others," he said. "In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America's future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition."
It's not too hard to read between the lines: I am fine. I can easily do another four years. You have no idea how great I am. It's only for my backstabbing colleagues that I'm sitting here tonight giving this speech.
Let's put his arrogance, his selfishness, his lack of humility and his lack of respect for the power of the executive aside for a moment and remember Wednesday's address marks the conclusion to a shameful, years-long conspiracy in which the White House, the Democratic Party and much of the press corps concealed the president's rapidly deteriorating health from voters — a conspiracy that fell apart after Biden himself exposed it during his first and only presidential debate of the 2024 campaign.
The "historic" Oval Office address this week happened only because the president and his lieutenants lied, lied outright and lied repeatedly in service of a conspiracy to deceive voters, a conspiracy that deprived Democrats of an actual primary. An actual selfless patriot would not have let it come to this.
On Wednesday, Biden confirmed he would not seek reelection. He did not, however, say he would immediately turn over his executive duties to his vice president.
Biden has no plans to give up that much power. He still intends to man the ship, even despite everything else. Selfless indeed. Here's hoping nothing of great importance happens at home or abroad after 5 p.m., Rehoboth time.
Becket Adams is a writer in Washington and program director for the National Journalism Center.
