Biden's age and health 'scandal' have only worsened after he dropped out the race, NYT columnist argues
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argued that the fallout from President Biden withdrawing from the race has only been worsened by reports that indicate the president's health may have been concealed by close advisors and family members.
"It's possible, depending on Biden's true capacities, that by rights he should have resigned and Harris should be president already — which probably would have put her in a better position to win the election even than her current honeymoon does," Douthat wrote in a column on Saturday headlined, "There is still a Biden scandal."
Biden has held only one public event this past week despite growing tensions between Iran and Israel and a global market sell-off on Monday, signaling turmoil on Wall Street.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argued that the fallout from President Biden withdrawing from the race has only been worsened by reports that indicate the president's health may have been concealed by close advisors and family members. (AP/Evan Vucci)
"It's also possible that there will come a crisis in the next few months that will make the Democrats wish that he'd resigned, rather than staying and then seeming overmatched," Douthat wrote.
The columnist said that increasing calls for Biden to step down from the race after his debate performance have also revealed reports that the president's inner circle may have "encouraged the president to run for re-election and practiced deception amid his obvious decline."
"The potential scale of that scandal has diminished now that the country is no longer being asked to entrust the Oval Office to Biden for another four years," Douthat wrote, adding that the age of former President Trump, who is 78, are "naturally going to claim more attention now that they're contrasted with a younger rival."
Biden's choice to withdraw from the presidential race has seemingly boosted his Vice President, Kamala Harris, in the polls. (Getty Images)
"But Biden is still the president — albeit with a 'scaled-down schedule' for his last six months," Douthat wrote. "The people who readily signed up for another four years of a 10-to-4 presidency are still running the government around him. And since things keep happening in the world — for instance, this week, the nation that we've been arming for a defensive war decided to invade Russia — it seems like America could stand to learn a bit more about how the White House has been working recently, and what a perceptive observer (say, someone like George Clooney) might notice if he were to observe Biden consistently over a few days or just a full 24 hours."
But instead of serious questions about Biden's ability to serve out the remainder of his presidency, Douthat wrote, voters are being treated with an image of Biden as a paragon of "self-sacrifice."
That "bargain," Douthat continued, "is so far working out so well for his anointed successor, who is surrounded by positive coverage and leading in some polls, the incentive structure for anyone who wants to see Trump defeated seems to favor not talking anymore about the cover-up of the president's deterioration."
Biden's choice to withdraw from the presidential race has seemingly boosted his vice president, Kamala Harris, in the polls.
A survey conducted by Ipsos found that Trump and Harris are in a tight race for seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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'It's possible'
'It's also possible'
This is what this 'article' is based on.
Bullshit is what it is
Is that your expert opinion?...
Thankfully, there's nothing happening on the international or domestic scene that would require a cognitive PotUS.....
Where's it at?... hang on....
Biden is out of the race and you are still beating on him.
Have you paid attention to the crazy shit Trump is saying nowadays? Biden will not be the next PotUS, but Trump could be. Why are you not worried about that lunatic securing the power of the presidency?
Trump wants to run against Biden and his fans want him to run against Biden, even though time and events have moved on. There is no help for it.
Of course, no surprise there.
so you agree then that this article is almost worthless
Where have I responded to TiG about Trump?
Then please spend your time elsewhere..
You were saying the things the first time around. He's served one term and none of your worst fears came to fruition. The left has milked the J6 riot for all its worth, the average normal America voter really doesn't give much of a damn about it, they have greater concerns. I doubt the world will come to an end if he serves another term.
The problem with Harris/Walz team is that they are both extreme far left libs. They are symbolically joined at the hip, there is not much difference in ideology between them, so they will be criticized as a team. The Biden administration is so out of touch with reality that they have put Tulsi Gabbar on the terrorist watch list for daring to criticize them. That's kinda scary. Talk about weaponizing the government agencies!
You just made that up. You clearly have no idea what I said about Trump prior to his Big Lie campaign.
Even if that were true (from what I can tell your definition of 'far left' is anything to your left), I would vote for them over Trump.
Sure, it's not like it wasn't going to happen anyway....
IMO such criticism would not have happened or be damaging to the Democratic Party had Biden taken Allan Lichtman's advice and resigned, turning over the White House to Kamela Harris in order for her to have the further advantage of being the incumbent.
I don't get it. Biden is no longer running - the desperation is hilarious.
I don't see this as damaging at all - just desperation on the part of the gop.
Who is currently president?...
Not at all, leave a feeble old man in charge till the party can arrange his replacement....
Of course, it's President Biden and he is not a feeble old man.
You're left with a demented perverted ranting raving fool who you're obviously voting for.
Boy is the right desperate now that President Biden has honorably stepped aside.
When did he do that?..
My point as well.
Ridiculous
5 minutes after they dumped him.
Ridiculous??? If he had ACTUALLY stepped aside Harris would be the PotUS now. He did not step aside. All he did was declare that he would not be a candidate on Nov 5.
No Buzz, he stepped away from the Democratic nomination. As the incumbent President he is now merely not running...
But...based on some of the comments here, it appears that some people may not be aware that Biden is not actually running.
(Shocking, eh?)
Thank you Buzz.
Amazing, isn't it?
Some people actually think Biden is running for President in the upcoming election!
(I wonder what they are thinking? Are they wondering if Biden can beat Trump? Or Kamela? Or Teddy Roosevelt? I wonder how many people actually think Teddy Roosevelt has been reincarnated-- and running once again???
Yes, based on most of the comments, it appears some have no idea what the topic of the seed actually is. Not shocking at all....
"Biden's age and health 'scandal' have only worsened after he dropped out the race, NYT columnist argues"
Yes, jbb, he dropped out of the race, but he DID NOT step aside because if he did he would no longer be PotUS.
But he's not out of office.
And there's the expected "but Trruuummmmppppp!!" deflection.
He is still the President is he not? He is not fit to be President, and has proven it beyond the shadow of a doubt. Leftists may feel safe with a complete cognitive disaster leading the country- reality is he needs to be removed now.
No, just like you and leftists haven't been paying attention to crazy shit Kamala and Democrats are saying.
So could the hyena that Democrats were so desperate to replace at the bottom of the ticket because she is no fit to be VP; much the less President.
Same reason you aren't worried about putting a proven unqualified lunatic hyena in the Oval Office.
Your posts continue with ridiculous hyperbole against the Ds while totally excusing Trump. The total absence of objectivity is remarkable.
Biden is old but he is perfectly capable of finishing his term.
This is an adult (unlike Trump) who operates rationally in reality (unlike Trump's alternate reality) and who is working for the American people (unlike Trump who works for himself).
This continued blindly partisan attempt to discredit Biden is pathetic. Give it a rest.
I doubt MAGA are interested that President Biden proved he is just fine mentally in that interview this morning. Frankly, he did great...
So the Dems shouldn’t have pushed him out with a 25th Amendment threat?
Sure...
[✘] I did not think so, but I admire him very much for doing the right thing politically when he was convinced that passing the baton to Harris was going to be the best path to whooping Trump again and for good. As I have repeatedly said, President Biden will go down in history similarly to Harry Truman as an unlikely hero who performed and made the big play in 2020. He had to be convinced the best way to beat Trump and the best path for the country was with Harris...
What Joe did by bowing out now is a perfect example of what Trump is not as a man and can never understand. A Good American!
As for myself, I admire him immeasurably and know I always will!
You won't have Joe Biden to trash and to belittle. What will you do?
There is no lack of amusing observations on the political front now or next year.
Biden left when he realized that Kamala had the backing of Obama, Schumer, Pelosi, and Jeffries to apply the 25th Amendment and force him out if he continued to resist.
The renewed enthusiasm to Harris’s campaign is testament to what the Dems were hiding on Joe’s abilities, you included.
Joe should have been preparing Kamala liked Obama prepared him. If he didn’t want Kamala to be his successor next year, he should have socialized choice last season year with the Party leaders.
I don’t compare him to Trump because Trump doesn’t represent any standard to measure a President by.
So much for popping the bubbles of pretentious libs, huh?
In the end you can see your own reflection in mud puddles!
Odd thing is that about an inch below the surface it is mud...
If he was just fine he would not be on the outside looking in.
Obama backed Hillary, not Biden in 2016- he had seen all he needed to of Biden as his VP.
The last time Democrats believe in choice was Obama's first term. Since then they have dictated their nominees for President.
Biden also supported Hillary in the 2016 Presidential election.
President Obama did not endorse Hillary till she was nominee.
How do you prove that?...
And there is the blind partisanship...
No doubt you're absolutely correct, why would we want competent leadership on the verge of WW3?....
Thanks for your post..
Good grief, you believe Trump's fear mongering?
Do you think we are on the cusp of a depression too?
Good grief, do you think the current PotUS is fully functional?.....
You dodged again.
Already answered your question @3 ... my first comment.
Do you believe Trump's claim that he won his classified documents case because the PRA gave him the right to take the docs?
Obviously the left wants everyone to forget about biden as quickly as possible. Heaven forbid anyone asks why so many democrats were hiding his mental state until it was too obvious to hide.
Do you believe a senator with absolutely no claims to the PRA had a right to take classified documents?
No. But when he was caught he said "ooops, my bad. I am just an old confused man" so everything was forgiven.
Clearly you do not understand the PRA. Your comment implies that the PRA provides a PotUS certain freedoms when it does the exact opposite.
Trump is lying about the PRA. He continues to claim that the PRA gave him the right to take classified documents when it expressly states that he could not take any official documents. Read the PRA, it is not difficult to understand.
Unfortunately it seems that Trump's lies have an effect because clearly people still believe him.
Biden was wrong to take classified documents (unless special provisions were made and I see no evidence of that). Pence was also wrong. Trump was also wrong. And when Trump took documents after he was no longer PotUS, he violated the PRA.
That is all that was needed to answer the question.
Hardly, the question demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the PRA.
Sure
Do you understand that the PRA was created to clarify that any official records produced while a PotUS is in office are public property and are expressly NOT private property of the (former) PotUS? That a former PotUS cannot remove official records?
This was created in response to Watergate.
Trump is lying to you. Do not believe him. Read the PRA yourself or at least start with a summary:
But Trump was not a Senator when he took the classified documents.
Some people are saying that he was actually a standup comedian (probably because so many people are laughing at him) ...but that didn't stop him from attempting to hide them in the bathroom.
(And of course he & his assistant were caught when they were trying to move them)
Correct... he wasn't.
[✘]
[deleted][✘]
Interesting interpretation. Here is how someone that does not feel the need to question someones understanding or bring Trump into the conversation might interpret the question.
"Do you believe a senator with absolutely no claims to the PRA had a right to take classified documents?"
He is saying that a senator has no claim to the PRA and asking if a senator had a right to take classified documents. It is pretty hard to think he didn't understand the PRA considering the first word of PRA is Presidential and he specified senator.
The obvious answer is one very small part of your post. "Biden was wrong to take classified documents (unless special provisions were made and I see no evidence of that" . The rest was just a total deflection and caca.
Of course Greg TX is the only person that can say which (if either ) interpretation is correct but I find it amusing that two people can come to two totally different interpretations of the same thing.
This implies that if a senator had a claim to the PRA that he (or she) would have a right to take classified documents. No. Entirely backwards.
Anyone who has clue one about the PRA would know that the PRA prohibits taking classified documents. That means the PRA is the exact opposite of giving a 'right'.
Read the PRA, get your facts straight.
No, a senator with absolutely no claims to the PRA. That actually states a senator has no claims to the PRA
Read the question again, get your interpretation straight
We will see what the author of the question has to say if he chooses to respond.
Yes, that is exactly what it says. A senator has no right to the PRA. That implies that some privilege would be granted the senator if they had the right.
There is NO privilege granted to anyone by the PRA. The PRA restricts.
For Trump and any other former PotUS, the PRA restricts his access to official documents.
IMO that implies it if the person reading it wants it to imply it. I will stick with going by what it actually said and if I wasn't sure about what it might or might not imply I would have asked.
You are ignoring what was written and inserting a completely different meaning.
See 3.2.20. It is quite clear.
No, I phrased the question exactly how I meant it.
That seems to be a common theme in discussion with you.
Whew, good thing I'm not voting for Biden.
No shit... wait..
You would have...
Or Don Jr?..
Me too!
(For years I've made it my policy to never vote for someone who's not running!)
Biden's age and health 'scandal' have only worsened after he dropped out the race,
Well-- you convinced me!
Good Job!!!
(Because of this article, I am definitely not going to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election!)
Wow, the talking points are out,
I would be funny if it wasn’t so sad, the reason you can’t vote for Joe Biden is because your democrat overlords decided for you, who you will be voting for, or you would be voting for Joe Biden, despite the fact he is senile and incapable of performing his duties as president.
Pssst. Here's a little secret-- please don't tell anyone, OK?
The real reason people are not voting for Joe Biden?
BECAUSE HE'S NOT RUNNING!
Well of course Trump is senile-- everybody knows that!
I won't be voting for trump, he is too old and senile.
His mind is simply gone.
Long gone but the desperation from the coward/wussy is so palpable. The usual projection/insanity
After reading what he said (comment 7) I think its gotten much worse-- that information clearly illustrates that Trump is probably beyond being merely old and senile! I'm no Entomologist-- but it seems to me that it' maybe only a matter of time that the men in white coats with the butterfly nets may soon be coming after him!!!!
He may end up in the loony bin before he even knew what happened!!!
They´re coming to take me away,
Haha, they´re coming to take me away,
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha,
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I´ll be happy to see
Those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they´re coming to take me AWAY,
HA HAAAA
It is funny watching the same people who pushed the most absurd propaganda about how healthy Biden was just a month ago pivoting to the “so what if he’s incapable of functioning a full work day, I’m not voting for him now” deflection.
how do you explain this ?
Why should it be explained on a seed about Biden?
Right, like all the intellectual members. But Trump?.. hilarious......
When I praise trump’s character the way some people shilled for Biden’s health and vigor just a few weeks ago, I’ll answer for random trump tweets,
Deflection. An excuse to dodge the challenge.
The seeder encouraged the comparison to Trump in comment 1:
Outside of that, when speaking of the current PotUS dropping out of the race the comparison with Trump is inevitable. Just like comparison to Trump is inevitable in an article about Harris and comparison to Harris is inevitable in an article about Trump.
This is a news site with a heavy focus on politics.
Random ?
BTW even his toad Ramaswamy knows a fuck up when he sees one
On Nov 5 Trump will be ten times worse and Ramaswamy will still be saying the same thing , "focus on policies".
Better he should be "surrounded by bad advisors pushing nonsense" now than after the election.
That brings up an interesting question. What are Kamala Harris's policy proposals?....
Get rid of Trump, I hope.
Agree. If one can't talk about Biden just but but but Trump
Get rid of Trump is not a policy but it may very well be all she has.
Any day now. LOL
She did steal Trump’s no tax on tips idea.
sadly for her, her VP pick is so compromised that he can’t do interviews on Sunday morning shows either. So the entire ticket lacks someone who can publicly answer basic policy questions right now.
Even if it is all she has, and I dont think thats the case, it is more than good enough.
Vote for me and I'll set you free
Rap on, brother, rap on
Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul
Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon
Politicians say more taxes will solve everything
That is kinda sad
There is nothing sad about ridding this nation of the Trump plague.
Depends on the cost
Okay, can you answer the question at 8.1.7?..
It was just posted on her web site: "I have a policy about policies with regards to my policy. It is a policy based on future policies from before policies were policy".
Certainly sounds about right...
Perhaps some other enthusiastic members can fill in the blanks....
Or not....
I can list those she has stated thus far. But if you were actually serious, you could find those yourself; just listen to her campaign speeches and read her website.
She has not put out her official policy statement yet. That would be the first place to go.
Have you changed the topic from Biden to Harris?
You act like there is no answer to that question.
There isn't. Only a bunch of "I am going to make everything wonderful" clichés with nothing about how anything will actually be accomplished.
Hasn't been so far....
Sure, as much as you changed it from Biden to Trump....
Denial and deflection, no thoughtful content.
Your seed compares Biden with Trump:
And you, the seeder, quote another mention from your seed in your opening comment:
You have zero grounds to complain about any comment comparing Trump with Biden.
Unreasonable gotcha games are being played. How are we now to discuss any issues even tangential to the 2024 election without referring to one candidate? I remember Drifty tried to impose that kind of nonsense, Sally shot her down. A meltdown ensued...
Yes, that does seem to be the bulk of posts in dissent....
And I haven't.[✘]
The current age and health problem threatening to sink an entire political party does not involve Biden or Democrats...
Really? Have there been a bunch of MAGA or Republican operatives concealing how much Trump's age impacts his decision making or lack thereof?...
How does Trump beat Harris if he is running against Biden? Joe Biden has aged in office as all Presidents do. The political reality became clear to Biden so he passed off to Vice President Harris.
Kamala Harris is coming on strong. She has Kamalamentum!
Trump's campaign is in a death spiral. We're Not Going Back!
No, the other one
.
Sean-- you are aware, aren't you-- that the reason people aren't voting for Biden is that he's not actually running this time.
(You did know that-- right???
)
You are aware, aren't you-- that credibility matters to some people?
So when the same people who a month ago were touting how mentally sharp Biden is turn around and simply pretend their lies don't matter, those of us who have better memories than goldfish might not care what their excuse is?
Nope.
Never knew that.
Thanks for explaining it!
Trump "re-truthed " this a little while ago
Not as good as vote dem or democracy will end but could be worse.
You know-- you might be right!
URP!
Gesundheit!
No-- God did not spare that man's life just to lose to Kamela harris.
She had other much more interesting reasons.
(But let's keep it secret, eh? God has been known to be a little sensitive when her true secrets get out-- if ya catch my drift!!!)