Basking in the afterglow of President Joe Biden's stellar press conference last night, I clicked on Morning Joe at dawn to check out what they were saying about President Biden's press conference.
It seemed to start off ok.
In the lead-in, co-host Willie Geist noted that "He did have some gaffes, but he also showed a command of key issues, particularly on foreign policy."
Kind of a half-assed, obviously begrudging admission that Biden did well - even though we could have done without it being couched in a gratuitous observation that, like every other human being on earth, Biden isn't perfect. But alright.
Then, in the next breath, Geist said:
"But behind the scenes, though, advisors and close allies are said to be making the case for why he should step aside"
As he spoke, a graphic of a New York Times headline blaring "Biden advisors weigh how to convince him to end his campaign" floated on the screen.
Click.
“Behind the scenes advisors are said to be” is Mean Girl Telephone Game speak for “We heard that someone who isn't behind the scenes told somebody what they claim is happening in rooms they aren't in, but we’re not telling you who said it or who they said it about.”
In other words, once again, we're being played.
Remember when the press defended their non-stop Biden Doom Loop as completely beyond their control, because it was all Biden's fault, generated solely by a bad debate performance, but all the president needed to do was to show them he's up to the job and they'd back off?
Remember “He needs to give a speech”?
He gave a speech. Meh
Then, “He needs to speak off the cuff without a teleprompter.”
He spoke off the cuff without a teleprompter, repeatedly, nearly every day, including a beautiful, heartfelt remarks at a meeting of national union leaders that you probably never even saw if you even heard about it. Because it earned nothing but crickets from the chattering class, who simply ignored it.
And then: “He needs to give a press conference.”
And boy, did he give a press conference, delivering a performance that even his most fervent media detractors had to reluctantly admit was a master class in “showing a command of key issues.”
But, of course, that wasn't good enough for the “just prove to us you're up to the job and we'll leave you alone” crowd, either.
Because they were lying. Again.
Let's be real. The media are NEVER going to let up on President Biden, no matter what he says or what does.
Biden could have recited Shakespeare's sonnets from memory while doing one-handed push-ups last night, and the media would have disqualified him for using the wrong arm.
And even if Biden were to step down today, as the media elite are not just demanding, but irrresponsibly trying to force him to do (not your job, guys), they would simply shift their focus to his replacement, expertly sniff out the softest spot on their underbelly, and plunge their fangs into it ...
And without even coming up for air, they would breathlessly proclaim:
DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY!
BUYER'S REGRET IN THE DEMOCRATIC CAMP!
INSIDERS TURN ON MAGICAL SPARKLE PONY: SOURCES LAMENT THAT MSP “IS NO JOE BIDEN!”
I am so proud of President Biden and Vice President Harris and the Democrats who will actually decide who are nominees are, for refusing to play Charlie Brown to the political Lucys trying to lure us to the party's and country's demise with promises to play fair this time.
Nope. We’re not going to try to kick that football only to have it snatched away and find ourselves flat on our backs while the Republicans climb over us and stumble through the goalposts their media blockers and tacklers are dragging around the field.
Because this isn't a cartoon and it isn’t a game. This is a battle for our country's life and soul. And we're not going to let up just because certain shameless “journalists” tell us some nameless, spineless “advisors” want us to.
Keep fighting, y'all. Joe and Kamala have got this … and we've got them.
Media coverage of Biden is feeling very 2016 “But her e-mails”.
The time to have this conversation about Biden running for a 2nd term was 2022/early 2023. It’s not like nobody knew the man was going to be 81 running for a second term. Nothing is suddenly new or super urgent about his age now.
And that press conference last night was perfectly fine- Biden clearly has all of his mental faculties and was completely knowledgeable about the facts he was drawing upon to answer some very good questions.
It was a very NORMAL conversation between Biden and reporters. I didn’t even notice the “Vice President Trump” slip of the tongue, because I knew what he meant and my brain immediately inserted “Harris” for Trump.
He validated Harris as being perfectly capable of stepping in to be POTUS- because she is.
And he noted something that I think is absolutely correct and gets to your “moving the goal post” point- when he was being pressed about taking a neurological exam and cognitive test, Biden noted (paraphrasing here) “even if I did- people wouldn’t be satisfied. Oh, you only did one?-you need to do more. You only had one doctor? We need more than one…”. He’s right about that.
Last night confirmed for me the man is fine. He’s old, frail, but has all his faculties. And what he lacks in youthful energy he makes up for in perspective and experience.
Thanks, Stephanie. This is so good. The mendacity of the media clearly knows no bounds, and we all have to call them out for it and make sure that reality breaks through the damaging fictional narratives that the media is trying to construct.
I'm following your example by also writing about what I'm seeing as a concerned American voter. Here's an essay I finished last night to also highlight the difference between the manufactured media circus and what we really need to focus on - stopping Project 2025 and supporting the best darn White House team in decades, certainly in my lifetime to be sure. Substance matters!
https://agoodreedreview.com/2024/07/11/substance-matters/