Philip Klein of National Review Online writes that President Biden’s Oval Office speech this week didn’t fulfill its promise. Biden didn’t offer a valid reason for dropping his re-election bid.
[H]e didn’t really explain anything. This is the closest he came:
“In recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing – nothing – can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.”
This, however, doesn’t actually explain the underlying reasons. For weeks he was insisting that he wouldn’t drop out of the race — not unless the Lord Almighty came down and told him to do so. Yet he suddenly flipped like a switch and decided one Sunday afternoon to announce on social media he was bailing on the race.
His words … leave the American people to fill in the blanks as to why he needed to drop out to unify his party and why the cause of saving democracy required his exit from the race. The obvious reason is that were he to do so, he’d have to explain that his rapid mental decline left him unable to campaign for reelection, which would then raise further questions about why he doesn’t resign from the presidency. Instead, he just didn’t elaborate, because he knows now that the media have helped Democrats push him out of the way, they will stop reporting on his infirmity.
Speaking of which, he looked weak and out of sorts. … He was slurring his words, trying to force his eyes wide open, and struggling to get through his speech on the teleprompter. He has no business remaining as the leader of the free world.
