The Russian invasion, Hamas attack, COVID-19. Yet no one has ever seen the liberal CNN panel as shocked as they were late Thursday night. The press, political advisers and spin doctors had theoretically gathered to comment on the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, as is their tradition. To analyze how they scored in discussing each subject. To fact-check who lied about which issue — and what lies Trump dished out.
Instead, there was just incredulity, despair, and naked fear. “How could you put him out there?” asked Republican political adviser David Urban. “If that was my father, you don’t put a guy in that situation.” And veteran journalist John King explained, “The Democrats … came into this debate nervous that Biden was in a weak position. They leave this debate panicked.” Former adviser to Barack Obama and Democrat Van Jones was almost speechless. He said, “I love Joe Biden…But he had a test to meet tonight to restore the confidence of the country and of the base. And he failed to do that … it’s personally painful for a lot of people. It’s not just panic, it’s the pain of what we saw tonight.”
What happened? The U.S. and the world were witness to an unprecedented act of self-destruction. Just a few minutes into the debate, it was clear to every viewer that the Democrats, the U.S. — and with it, the free world — had a problem: Biden.
The sitting president of the United States, widely considered the most powerful man in the world, made a sad picture. Biden, 81, failed to finish sentences and completely changed the subject in the middle of a thought. He got lost in explanations. He stuttered, trailed off, looked apathetic and gaped at the camera, even though he had time left to speak. Biden gave the impression he was about to collapse. It was pitiable. Humiliating.
Next to him stood a broad-shouldered Trump. He had obviously been well advised. He just let the catastrophe happen, let it prove his narrative about feeble Sleepy Joe before everyone’s eyes. Trump let the deplorable theater at the podium next to him go almost without comment, which made him — him, of all people — seem almost statesmanlike, even almost credible. Only once did he react to one of Biden’s several confused statements: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.” And everyone who had just tried to listen to Biden could relate completely.
For weeks, the media have been discussing Biden’s status. The missteps have accumulated. At the G7 summit, he suddenly wandered away from the photo shoot of the heads of state. At an event with Obama, Obama had to guide him off the stage. The liberal world was still holding out hope for the first presidential debate, hoping that Biden, who has stuttered since childhood, would show everyone once again. After all, he wasn’t his spryest in 2020, either, but he could still stand up to Trump’s machine.
Back then, Biden made the populist Trump look like a schoolboy at moments, unmasking his fairy tales with nothing more than a whimsical smile.
Four years later, Biden is a different man. He couldn’t even challenge Trump’s most absurd lies; he just left them on the table. The commander in chief, a helpless dodderer, confronted with a predator. Whom would you rather have as president?
Which brings us to the final question. And it is not whether Biden win an election against Trump. Instead, it is whether Biden is even capable of leading his country — and with it, the free world.
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