When you see ‘Biden Is Toast’ in a Politico headline, you know things are really, really bad for Joe Biden. That line was part of a title of a story in that periodical about Biden’s disastrous debate performance on Thursday which was originally published fifteen minutes before that event was even completed: “Dems freak out over Biden’s debate performance: ‘Biden is toast’.”
Lisa Kashinsky, Adam Cancryn, and Eugene Daniels, acting more like coroners providing a Biden campaign autopsy than as Politico reporters, had the sad task of laying out the brutal facts for the bereaved Democrats and their media allies.
…he stammered. He stumbled. And, with fewer than five months to November, he played straight into Democrats’ worst fears — that he’s fumbling away this election to Donald Trump.
The alarm bells for Democrats started ringing the second Biden started speaking in a haltingly hoarse voice. Minutes into the debate, he struggled to mount an effective defense of the economy on his watch and flubbed the description of key health initiatives he’s made central to his reelection bid, saying “we finally beat Medicare” and incorrectly stating how much his administration lowered the price of insulin. He talked himself into a corner on Afghanistan, bringing up his administration’s botched withdrawal unprompted. He repeatedly mixed up “billion” and “million,” and found himself stuck for long stretches of the 90-minute debate playing defense.
And when he wasn’t speaking, he stood frozen behind his podium, mouth agape, his eyes wide and unblinking for long stretches of time.
Reading this you could almost hear Howard Cosell yelling “DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!” except substitute “Biden” for “Frazier.”
And now the Politico serving of toast followed by a heaping pile of sheer Democrat panic:
“Biden is toast — calling it now,” said Jay Surdukowski, an attorney and Democratic activist from New Hampshire who co-chaired former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential campaign in the state.
In text messages with POLITICO, Democrats expressed confusion and concern as they watched the first minutes of the event. One former Biden White House and campaign aide called it “terrible,” adding that they have had to ask themselves over and over: “What did he just say? This is crazy.”
It seemed to be so bad for Biden that the Politico coroners/reporters even appeared to pronounce his campaign to be DOA:
Already, some Democrats were openly saying that Biden should end his campaign. One major Democratic donor and Biden supporter said simply: “Biden needs to drop out. No question about it.”
…Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chair and “Never Trumper” who is considering voting for Biden, had warned that Democrats would need to reconsider their ticket if the president delivered a poor performance on Thursday.
After the debate, Cullen said: “Anyone who has watched a parent grow old, frail, and foggy recognizes what they are seeing and knows it only gets worse, at an accelerating rate, from here.”
One beneficial side effect of this Politico panic attack over Biden’s presidential campaign future is that perhaps the media will finally drop its absurd “cheapfake” shtick to debunk videos of Biden acting as incoherent as he did during Thursday’s debate.