President Joe Biden hoped that Thursday night’s debate would put to bed concerns that he is mentally and physically unfit for the office of the presidency. Instead, his performance was a cacophony of alarm bells announcing his time is clearly up.
The presidential debate showdown between Biden and Donald Trump was a festival of the unprecedented, from the eerie silence of the crowdless hall, to the game-show style microphone manipulation, to the fact that it is only June.
Let’s be clear on one thing, there are caves deep in the Pacific Ocean that are lower than Biden’s expectations were heading to Atlanta. Basically, if he could look normal, literally just clearly make a case, he’d pass the test and remain secure in the nomination.
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He failed that test, and failed it badly.
For Trump, the challenge was entirely different. Could he behave? Would the Rube Goldberg rules and the potentially hostile moderators get under his skin? Could he remain, at least his version of presidential and blunt Biden’s attack about his supposed danger to democracy?
In this, Trump largely succeeded.
For his part, Biden, with a faltering and scratchy voice, looked old and feeble from the moment he slowly shuffled to his podium. It didn’t get any better when he tried to blame inflation on Trump in his first convoluted answer on the economy.
At times, he simply looked lost, eyes darting, almost with an air of subtle fear, as if he didn’t know what he was supposed to look at.
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Meanwhile, Trump, without a crowd to play to, sounded more like he was on a radio interview, his answers directed back to the moderators. This was on full display when Trump carved apart Biden’s boasts on unemployment, saying the "only jobs he created were for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs," from COVID.
On Afghanistan, a confused Biden said that he was the only president this decade to not lose the life of a U.S. soldier overseas, a fantastical lie from the commander in chief who botched the withdrawal, tragically leading to the death of 13 soldiers.
Did he just forget? Was he checking his watch again?
As question after question was lobbed, and they weren’t exactly difficult, Biden became angry, less clear, his visage like a standing pond, lifeless and void. Even his opponent seemed surprised by Biden's demeanor and words.
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At one point, Trump quipped, "I don’t know what he said at the end of that answer, I don’t think he knew either," he spoke for many of us.
Moderator Jake Tapper attempted to put Trump on defense regarding the January 6 Capitol riot, asking what he would say to voters who think he violated his oath. After a brief deflection, Trump repeated that he told protesters to be peaceful and that Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi refused National Guard help.
Biden used the question to utter on video, for the first time, that Trump is a "convicted felon," asking if Trump would denounce the hundreds convicted in connection with January 6. Trump parried as most Republicans do, with the thousands of crimes that went unpunished in the George Floyd riots.
Biden was asked directly if he thinks that the tens of millions of voters committed to Trump are against American democracy, and amazingly the president said yes. It might have been the single largest number of Americans ever insulted at one time from a presidential debate stage.
Trump’s best moment was when he pointed out that Biden "doesn’t fire anyone." It's more or less true, as the polls clearly show that the border is a disaster and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is still in charge.
National Security Director Jake Sullivan called the Middle East quieter than it had been "in two decades," just eight days before the horrific Hamas attack of Oct. 7. He still has his job.
Concerns about potential bias from CNN moderators Tapper and Dana Bash proved irrelevant, because not only the biggest, but honestly, the only takeaway from the debate was the woeful display put on by Biden.
Just how bad was it? Only an hour in, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof took to X to post, "I wish Biden would reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race, throwing the choice of Democratic nominee to the convention."
Or as Apollo Creed's cornerman put it in "Rocky III," "Throw in the damn towel."
Yes, it is that serious. It is that dire.
Watching the blank stares waft across Biden's face all night, Americans could be forgiven if they were deeply concerned that this is the man sitting in the Oval Office and the Situation Room.
Not only did Biden prove on Thursday night how deeply irresponsible it would be to reelect him in November, he made millions of Americans wonder if he can serve for four more days, much less four more years.
Now the ball is now in the court of the Democratic Party. It must do the country the needed service of removing Biden from the presidential ballot, if not the White House, itself.
