Joe Biden has never stood accused of being a gifted orator or a man of towering intellect. He has enjoyed a reputation as a walking gaffe machine for about as long as he has been in public life. For some time now every misstatement or reported memory lapse, as in special counsel Robert Hur’s depiction of him as “an elderly man with a poor memory” (Special Counsel Report), is pounced on by Republicans eager to cite it as evidence that he is unfit to hold the office of president. (I will not speculate here as to Hur’s motives or the propriety of giving such prominence to a partisan talking point.) Elements of the mainstream media have joined the chorus, eager to demonstrate their journalistic integrity by balancing negative-sounding coverage of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, involvement with the January 6 insurrection, rape conviction, multiple indictments, and on down the list with negative-sounding coverage of Biden’s age and supposed mental-acuity issues.
It is reasonable to presume that at eighty-one Biden’s faculties are diminished to some degree. We are all made weak by time and fate. I have been saying for more than a year that Biden would have done the country and his party a service if following the 2022 midterm elections where the Democrats performed better than anticipated he had announced that he would be a one-term president. From some quarters come suggestions that it is not too late for him to make way for a contest between other candidates (Kristol, Egger, Should Biden). I am not so sure about that, and at any rate he gives no indication that he is entertaining that notion.
Last summer a friend suggested a factor that might contribute to Biden’s verbal misadventures. My friend is legally blind, with some limited vision in one eye, none in the other. When, for example, someone invites her to look at a photo on a phone, she has to focus and concentrate intently to make it out. This can take a few minutes during which she is unable to engage in conversation or anything else. It may be that something similar is at work for Biden when he concentrates to avoid stuttering while speaking.
Moreover, misstatements such as Biden’s recent reference to Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt as president of Mexico are not uncommon, as in these examples provided by Atlantic staff writer Yair Rosenberg:
On Sunday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson went on television and mixed up Iran and Israel. “We passed the support for Iran many months ago,” he told Meet the Press, erroneously referring to an aid package for the Jewish state. Last night, the Fox News prime-time host Jesse Watters introduced South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as hailing from South Carolina. I once joined a cable-news panel where one of the participants kept confusing then–Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. I don’t hold these errors against anyone, as they are some of the most common miscues made by people who talk for a living—and I’m sure my time will come. (Rosenberg, What Biden’s Critics)
Rosenberg pointed out that “the president clearly knew whom and what he was talking about” when the al-Sisi gaffe occurred.
The substance of Biden’s answer was perfectly cogent. The off-the-cuff response included geographic and policy details not just about Egypt, but about multiple Middle Eastern players that most Americans probably couldn’t even name.
Couple this with testimony from any number of people who have worked and otherwise interacted with Biden that he is clearly hands-on and in charge at the White House. David Brooks’s remarks on last Friday’s PBS NewsHour were in line with other accounts:
I have been interviewing Joe Biden for 30 years. He's not as quick as he was.…So the age is a factor…Now, my own personal opinion, based on my own direct contact and my reporting, is that his judgment is—his memory may sometimes slip, but his judgment is good. And he absolutely runs the White House. He's in charge of that administration. He's completely sharp enough to do that. (Nawaz, Brooks and Capeheart)
Rosenberg was right when he summed up a review of “Biden’s bungling” with the conclusion that
he is the same person he has always been, just older and slower—a gaffe-prone, middling public speaker with above-average emotional intelligence and an instinct for legislative horse-trading…The president’s strength is not orating, but legislating; not inspiring a crowd, but connecting with individuals.
The case is bolstered by the administration’s substantial accomplishments during Biden’s first three years: “landmark climate-change provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the country’s first gun-control bill in decades, and the expected expansion of the child tax credit” (Rosenberg), and a host of other lesser known achievements (30 Things Joe Biden Did).
Concern about Biden’s age is legitimate. The Republican caricature of him as doddering and incapable is not. Suggestion of equivalence between Biden and Trump in the name of a faux evenhandedness only muddies the waters in a way that serves Trump, the Republican Party, and other darker interests.
Keep the faith. Stand with Ukraine. yr obdt svt
References and Related Reading
Anthony Andragna, ‘Just so despicable’: Senate Dems inflamed by Hur report, Politico, February 9, 2024
Robert Hur, Report of the Special Counsel on the Investigation Into Unauthorized Removal, Retention, and Disclosure of Classified Documents Discovered at Locations Including the Penn Biden Center and the Delaware Private Residence of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. , U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel’s Office, February 5, 2024
William Kristol, Andrew Egger, Should Biden Step Aside?, The Bulwark, February 12, 2024
Amna Nawaz, Brooks and Capehart on voters’ concerns about Biden’s age, Trump’s ballot eligibility, PBS NewsHour, February 9, 2024
Yair Rosenberg, What Biden’s Critics Get Wrong About His Gaffes, The Atlantic, February 9, 2024
30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed, Politico Magazine, February 2, 2024
Thanks, Trani. Always appreciate your comments.
I've said it before about several of your commentaries, and I'll say it again, Yep! Hur could not find anything substantive, so he went low.