Charles Cooke writes for National Review Online about an unusual spin on President Biden’s current challenges.
[T]he mainstream press is beginning to realize that Joe Biden is unpopular, but that it has not yet grasped that he deserves to be so. Instead, many journalists seem to believe deep down that Biden’s unpopularity is a conspiracy. Today, Axios makes my point for me. In a post titled, “Scoop: Biden team’s don’t-let-him-trip mission,” the outlet confirms that:
“As voters express deep concerns about the 80-year-old president’s age and fitness for office, Biden’s team is taking extra steps to prevent him from stumbling in public — as he did in June, when he tripped over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy.”
These steps are concrete, not rhetorical. Axios notes that:
“Biden’s balance difficulties are likely the result of what his physician has diagnosed as ‘a combination of significant spinal arthritis’ and ‘mild post-fracture foot arthritis.’”
As a result:
*With a physical therapist, Biden has been doing exercises to improve his balance as far back as November 2021.
*Since his stumble in June, he has been wearing tennis shoes more often to avoid slipping — and using the short stairs on Air Force One, entering the plane on a lower deck than before. …
… Axios confirms that Democrats are worried about the issue. “Democrats,” it notes, “including some in the administration, are terrified that Biden will have a bad fall.” …
… But then, because it can’t help itself, Axios relapses, proposing that:
“Often without context, Republicans have used video clips of Biden looking confused about where to go after speeches to raise further questions about his age.”
Pick one! Is Biden’s age a real concern? Or are the Republicans making it up? Clearly, the clips to which Axios refers are not “without context,” because Axios literally just provided the context — which is that, per the Democrats they contacted, “the president often appears not to know which direction to go after he speaks at a podium.”
