Three weeks. That's all it took to topple a president.
Joe Biden's weekend announcement that he would not accept his party's nomination for another term followed what will go down in history as the worst presidential debate performance in history.
In this case, it was bad enough to eliminate Biden from a race he had already won: the Democratic primary.
Imagine the Lakers beating the Celtics at Crypto.com Arena, only to then do something so bad in the locker room that the NBA said, “Guys, we’re awarding the win to the Celtics just because of how badly they behaved.”
The debate was a miscalculation of epic proportions. The Biden campaign — which was trailing at the time, but close enough to rally and win — asked for it. They scheduled it and bragged about it.
Trump said yes and let Biden set all the rules. Many media outlets boasted that Biden had outdone Trump in setting boundaries and expectations.
And then Biden fell flat on his face.
What followed was truly astonishing. Three weeks of Democrats in crisis, a defiant Biden telling them to fuck off, and finally the president giving in in a mysterious letter released during a weekend when he was facing COVID.
It was very strange that the White House did not release a photo this weekend of Biden signing the letter or meeting with his political advisers. The fact that the most powerful person in the world would announce a momentous decision via social media without giving a real reason (reread his letter; you won’t find one there) only adds to the humiliation of a man who once said only the Lord Almighty could remove him from the race.
If he steps down for health reasons, Americans should know now, because it calls into question his fitness to lead the country today.
Perhaps the Lord Almighty for Democrats is House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, who, working with former President Obama and other party leaders, not to mention George Clooney and party donors, mounted the pressure campaign to force Biden out of the race.
There will be no other speakers before me, I believe. Read this passage from Politico Reports About what happened this weekend:
“Nancy made it clear they could do it the easy way or the hard way,” said one Democrat familiar with the private conversations, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way.”
What exactly was the “hard way”? Apparently, making his advice public. Why not invoke the 25th Amendment?
President Biden, who claimed that “democracy is at the ballot box,” met his end in the most undemocratic way possible: not at the hands of voters, but at the hands of political elites.
I made a mistake When I predicted that Biden would stay in office, I guess I shouldn’t have taken Democrats seriously when they said that we must always respect the outcome of the election. When you hear that demand this fall, be sure to read the fine print: Does not apply to Democratic primaries or when Nancy That's what Pelosi says.
He was right, however, that Democrats would turn to Vice President Kamala Harris as Biden’s replacement. Even though Harris piously proclaims that she wants to “earn” the nomination, anyone can see that the matter is settled.
Biden was removed in an undemocratic manner and Harris will be installed through a rigged process. Inspiring.
For his part, Donald Trump simply needs to pass on to Harris the arguments he made against Biden. After all, she is as responsible for Biden's failures as he is and has an approval rating in the mid-30s, just like the president.
Specifically, I expect Republicans to focus on the immigration crisis as Harris’ most glaring failure. Biden appointed her as his de facto secretary. Border Tsar in 2021, and the situation has only worsened since then.
Trump was already arguing that a vote for Biden was really a vote for Harris, since no one expected Biden to complete a second term. Trump proved him right, albeit on an accelerated timeline.
Democrats are using the argument that Trump is now the oldest presidential candidate in American history, but they miss the point: Biden’s numerical age was never the issue. It was his rapid decline and signs of cover-up that made Republicans — and most Americans — question Biden’s fitness for office.
Republican Nikki Haley, who lost to Trump in the Republican primary but endorsed him at last week's Republican Party convention, He said in January, “The first party to withdraw its 80-year-old candidate will be the one to win this election.”
Now, the 2024 election will put her theory to the test. Harris, 59, will be portrayed in the media as young and vigorous, while Trump will be portrayed as old and past tense.
Trump starts ahead of Harris in the national surveysBut over the next three weeks, Harris is likely to receive one glowing profile after another, followed by a coronation at the Democratic National Convention.
Trump must turn up the heat and invade his political space as much as possible during this time, demonstrating his own vigor while defining his new opponent as more extreme and incompetent than the last. His campaign, I have no doubt, is ready to launch such an attack.
The question is: will Americans hold Biden's record against Harris? Or is putting a younger face on a failed administration enough to give him a second chance?
Scott Jennings is a contributor to Opinion, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a senior political commentator for CNN. @ScottJenningsKY
