Everyone in politics is expendable. Some figure this out and bow out gracefully, as did former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy when members of his own party worked with the Democrats to oust him from the speakership last year. Others learn it the hard way.
President Joe Biden appears to be in the latter camp. After a scathing special counsel report this week confirmed the acceleration of the 81-year-old’s mental decline — he allegedly couldn’t remember when he had been vice president or when his late son Beau died — Biden held an impromptu press conference on Thursday night to combat the allegations.
The result was that he proved them right. He trailed off and seemingly forgot the name of the parish associated with a rosary that once belonged to his son, confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico, and hit reporters with bizarre and disjointed answers. Granted, Biden isn’t exactly used to staying up past 8 p.m., let alone taking unvetted questions from the press, but the conference made clear that Biden simply is not up for another five years in the White House.
And his own party knows it.
The Justice Department continues to protect Biden legally. After all, the only reason the problems with his memory were referenced in special counsel Robert Hur’s report was as an excuse for the DOJ not to prosecute Biden for mishandling classified information — a crime that Hur’s report demonstrates he clearly committed and a crime for which the DOJ is also prosecuting Biden’s top political rival, former President Donald Trump.
But the report was also a clear message that the DOJ and the Democratic establishment it represents are no longer willing to protect Biden politically. Hur surely could have found some other legal excuse for refusing to apply the law to Biden. And Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have to make the findings of Hur’s report public. It is not a far reach to assume that both decisions were calculated.
If there is one thing we know about the Democratic Party, it is not to underestimate its commitment to maintaining power. The Democratic establishment doesn’t care about reelecting Biden. It only cares about preventing Trump from being elected. The person at the top of the Democratic ticket simply does not matter outside of his usefulness to the party in helping make that happen.
Remember: The only reason Biden is in the White House at all is because the Democratic Party made a similar calculation back in 2020, when it decided that Biden was the best chance at beating Trump in a general election. There were other Democratic candidates in the race, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who were polling better than Biden in key primary states. But those candidates were pressured to drop out and rally behind Biden — not because Biden was some great, inspiring candidate but because he was considered the more viable option.
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Well, now the polls show that Biden has lost whatever general election appeal he might have had. He has been behind Trump in all of the battleground states for weeks, and his approval ratings show no sign of recovery. And his continued gaffes and blunders will only exacerbate voters’ top concern about him: that he’s not fit to do the job. In short, Biden has become a liability.
Whether the Democratic establishment succeeds in pushing him aside is another question. But there is no doubt at this point that it wants to. If Biden were smart, he’d bow out now while he has some dignity left.