Did Joe Biden just have another Ron Burgundy moment? That's the discussion happening on Saturday afternoon after a phone call the president held with House Democrats.
Speaking to the Congressional Progressive Caucus in an attempt to assuage fears about his declining mental and physical health, Biden grew angry and started yelling. He offered no plan and instead sunk further into his delusions when pressed on how to turn his campaign around.
“It was bad,” one member on the call said. “No plan.”
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) July 13, 2024
When members pressed him on how he would turn the campaign around Biden just listed policy achievements. Insisted his polls look better.
The president was then slipped a note by one of his handlers that read, "Stay positive, you are sounding defensive." He proceeded to read it verbatim.
RELATED: Biden White House Rushes to Cover Up President's Latest 'Ron Burgundy' Moment
During @JoeBiden’s call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the president said his staff passed him a note to “stay positive you are sounding defensive.” Biden read the note aloud to participants on the call.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 13, 2024
The reactions were immediate.
Whoever controls the teleprompter is the president
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 13, 2024
Great story. Compelling and rich. pic.twitter.com/rVpJdkFjmC
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 13, 2024
I'm going to be fair and raise the possibility that this wasn't a Ron Burgundy moment and that Biden read the note as a joke. That's what lawmakers claimed in the aftermath as an obvious clean-up attempt. How true is that? Without the audio, we simply can't know for sure whether Biden accidentally or purposely read the note aloud. So the "fact-checkers" salivating over this article can calm down.
Lawmaker on the call says president was "making fun of his staff" who passed him the note, and context was him acknowledging the note but then being the way he wanted to be on the call. "Not like he didn’t know what he was doing." https://t.co/wZCGQQolkS
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) July 13, 2024
True or not, imagine calling yourself a journalist and then being such a shameless stenographer. She might as well be on the DNC's payroll. Republicans never get that kind of "no questions asked" treatment when it comes to controversial stories.
Regardless, what does it say about the president that his handlers are having to step in and slip him notes? Who is actually in charge? That's the chief concern of many Americans, including a majority who say Biden is too old to perform the duties of the office.
It’s totally common for presidents being handed private notes containing private instructions to mindlessly read them out loud, you see https://t.co/WBbgS7Vx8w
— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 13, 2024
The fact that the president continues to struggle with anger is also not reassuring. As a recent call-in to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" showed, Biden is easily triggered, which is a symptom of his possible dementia. This was a call with his fellow party members. Instead of yelling at them, he should have been sweet-talking them. That he couldn't control himself (again) says a lot.
I don't think Biden is going anywhere because he's simply too stubborn and surrounded by a family of grifters who don't want the gravy train to end. Still, these incidents aren't going to stop. There will continue to be a steady slew of stories about his condition leading up to the final debate. If he stumbles at all there, it's hard to imagine how he recovers. Heck, it's already hard to see his pathway forward, and it's only July.
Editor's Note: this article was edited for clarity after publication.
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