Joe Biden’s Last Weeks – Mohamed El-Menshawy

President Joe Biden has just seven months left in office before the inauguration of a new president on Jan. 20. After Biden’s disastrous performance in the June 27 presidential debate against his rival, former President Donald Trump, it has become impossible to imagine Biden running in the November election, let alone winning it.

Biden entered the debate, which was watched by more than 50 million American voters on television, in addition to millions more on social media, with one goal and no other: to reassure the American people that his health and mental and intellectual fitness qualify him to rule the country for an additional four years, ending in 2028, after he has passed the age of 81. Biden failed miserably, despite Trump’s agreement to all the Democratic Party’s terms and demands regarding the debate, its timing, location, broadcasters, and various technical and procedural conditions.
The debate left millions of Americans amazed that only three years separate Biden, 81, from Trump, 78. Biden appeared on the debate stage as if he were over 90 years old, compared to Trump, who appeared intoxicated by his health and mental abilities despite his repeated lies and false claims.
Currently, there is only one question circulating in the circles and corridors of American politics, regarding how Biden will leave the electoral race, and how to deal with this disastrous scenario for the Democratic Party.
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After the debate, when asked about President Biden’s mental fitness, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, one of the names being floated to succeed Biden, replied, “You can’t tell people how to feel, and you can’t tell people to ignore something they’re questioning.” That’s what Biden, along with his wife, Jill Biden, his sister, Philare Biden, his son Hunter, and a small circle of elderly advisers he’s known over a half-century of public service, have tried to hide from the world for years.
The Biden campaign bet on an early debate to put aside voters’ questions about the president’s age and abilities, but the world watched as that bet backfired spectacularly.
Although party leaders quickly issued pro forma statements of support for the president, concerns about Biden’s ability to lead Democrats to victory in November and carry out his duties in a second term have not diminished. Rather, pressure has multiplied on him to step down, which appears likely to happen soon.
Biden, his wife and his allies have tried to quickly boost the chances of his continued candidacy by using the weapon of fear of the cracks that the Democratic Party could face if Biden withdraws.
Biden’s supporters reiterated that Biden’s withdrawal would push the party into chaos and perhaps a civil war within the Democratic camp, which consists of different currents whose candidates may compete for the party’s ticket if Biden withdraws.
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Some Democratic members of Congress are repeating that Biden’s continued run in the election race would not only result in losing the White House, but would extend the losses to losing the majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which would guarantee Republican control over the three main levers of government: the White House, Congress, and the Republican-majority Supreme Court. This would be a nightmare for the American liberal movement and for many of Washington’s allies, especially NATO members and Asian allies, as Trump will not prevent anyone from doing what he wants inside and outside America if he secures control of both houses of Congress.
No sane person expects President Biden’s health and mental state to improve. On the contrary, sound medical and scientific opinions confirm that Biden’s condition will continue to deteriorate naturally with age, a natural biological deterioration that will only be stopped by Biden’s death. Any slip, misstep, or confusion by Biden in the coming days will facilitate what has already become an easy task for Trump to return to the White House.
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Biden’s tireless efforts to restore confidence in him as a competitive candidate in the November elections will not succeed. While the Biden campaign dreamed that the elections would be about Trump and the bad values ​​he represents and the damage his arrival to the White House could cause to American interests, the elections have become entirely about Biden and his health and mental state. It is bad for America and its voters that the presidential race has shifted away from the important issues that shape and affect their daily lives and future aspirations, to a discussion and debate about the health and mental fitness of a candidate, and fears about the character of his competitor.
The nature of the Democratic Party (non-democratic) in its internal systems led to leaving the decision to step down in the hands of the president alone, who reiterates that he is still able to give and complete what he started. Despite the emergence of some voices warning against Biden continuing, they do not represent the majority of the influential circle in the party.
Top party leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, former nominee Hillary Clinton, and her husband, President Clinton, have rejected calls for Biden to withdraw, insisting that he is “the only one who can defeat Trump, as he did four years ago.” They have also tried to steer the public debate around Trump and his negatives, but their efforts have been unsuccessful.
Instead of facing the catastrophic reality, Biden’s circle of allies also turned to blaming his top advisers and the media for focusing on his disastrous debate performance and raising serious questions about his candidacy.
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Biden may think that what is happening now is nothing but a whirlwind that will end in a few days, especially with the complexities of alternative scenarios. However, the reality, as I see it, is pushing towards a coup against Biden from within his own party if he does not make the courageous decision to withdraw and hand over the leadership banner to a representative of a rising generation before the Democratic Party’s general conference is held for 4 days starting on the 19th of next month. Will Biden do it and protect his Democratic Party, or will he stick to running, with what that means for his Democratic Party and the American democratic experiment?