On July 11, Joe Biden, who has only intermittently made himself available to the media since coming to the White House in January of 2021, held a rare press conference. It doesn’t take a deep political thinker or veteran operative to understand there was an agenda behind this event. By the time it was over, a lot of Democrats and Biden supporters were probably feeling better about their commander-in-chief. At the same time, however, a lot of others are probably disappointed and filled with dread. The most notable thing about what Biden had to say was that he managed to rewrite much of the last three years of history – though, perhaps by now, that should come as a surprise to nobody.
Before the start of the much-delayed press conference, some political pundits were speculating that Biden was going to somehow use it to prepare his party and the nation for a new candidate stepping in to take on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November election. At this point, Kamala Harris is the name on everyone’s lips. That was never a rational or realistic possibility, however. Joe Biden has been on the offensive since his dreadful debate performance against Trump, insisting in no uncertain terms that he is running for re-election. He wasn’t about to suddenly do a U-turn and back out now – much less announce it at a press conference.
The Agenda Behind the Presser
The very purpose of this presser, clearly, was to demonstrate that he was firmly in command and had no intention of stepping aside. It was also meant to be his opportunity to demonstrate that he is still in control of his faculties and willing to answer questions from the press. In fact, His speech was extremely short and he spent far more time answering questions from reporters – albeit journalists he selected from a written list of White House-approved news organizations. Notably, he had some trouble reading the list.
Only his most loyal friends and supporters will claim – and, likely, they will indeed claim, over the coming days – that he showed no signs of cognitive decline. Yet his slurred speech was still noticeable. On occasion, entire sentences were almost unintelligible or simply made no sense. “Don’t redo this to the usual testament that people talk about,” he said within the first few minutes. It is not easy to even imagine what he was trying to say. He also made several gaffes, such as confusing Kamala Harris with “Vice President Trump,” although perhaps that particular slip wasn’t as bad as when, earlier in the day, he mixed up Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Joe Biden Reimagines His Record
Both during his speech and his answers to reporters’ questions, Joe Biden made several statements that are, at best, questionable and, at worst, easily proven false. He claimed that the number of encounters with illegal aliens at the southern US border is now lower than it was when Trump left the White House. Then again, in a recent interview, Biden also claimed that inflation was at 9% when Trump left office. In fact, as even CNN has acknowledged, “the year-over-year inflation rate in January 2021, the month of [Biden’s] inauguration, was about 1.4%.”
Biden also touted his economic record, alleging that he defied economists’ expectations. He challenged reporters to “find me a mainstream economist who says we aren’t doing well.” One can only assume that, by “mainstream economist,” he means any economist who isn’t saying the US economy is currently in bad shape.
Possibly his most egregious reinterpretation of past events was how he recounted the months leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The way Joe Biden describes it, well before the invasion, he moved swiftly to create an international alliance to stand against the Russians. The reality is that, in 2021, while Vladimir Putin was already massing troops near the Ukrainian border, Joe Biden met with him and, shortly afterward, halted shipments of lethal aid to the Ukrainians, including vital Javelin anti-tank missiles. The West’s reaction to the invasion, as everybody should remember, was halting, fractured, and confused. There was no grand coalition of allies put together by Joe Biden to defend Ukraine.
Of late, some Democrats and left-wing media outlets have been claiming that gun violence is now the leading cause of child deaths in the US. Joe Biden also repeated this incorrect statement during his press conference. A careful analysis of figures from the CDC shows that, across the board for Americans aged one to 19, accidents are the leading cause of fatalities. One must indulge in some very selective cherry-picking of the numbers to get anywhere near the conclusion that gun violence is the number one killer.
Portraying himself as the most effective president in history, as he is wont to do, Biden also bragged that he had gotten more legislation passed in his first three and a half years than any other chief executive. The reality is quite different. George W Bush signed more than 900 bills in each of his two terms in the White House, Barack Obama signed over 600 in each of his, and Donald Trump put his signature on 787 bills during his four years as president. So far, Joe Biden has signed 431 pieces of legislation. So, between now and January 20, 2025, Mr. Biden would have to sign almost 200 bills to rival Obama’s first term total of 625.
Some of Biden’s allies and supporters may indeed feel better now by telling themselves that the man is back on his game and firmly in control. Others, after watching the press conference, saw their last hopes that he would gracefully bow out finally buried. For anyone gravely concerned that the current White House incumbent is neither physically nor mentally capable of carrying out his duties, the event was not reassuring. All that remains to be seen is what the next move is for those within Mr. Biden’s own party and his supporters who were hoping he would step aside.
