Analysis of a fiasco

It’s time to go! Who will tell Joe Biden?

Joe Biden's recent performances have been disastrous.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/Susan Walsh)

Joe Biden is a different man than he was four years ago. He is losing his hopeless bet against time more clearly with each passing day. While his team is lost in excuses, the anxious question arises: Who is telling Biden that his political clock has run out? The analysis of a fiasco.

Constant repetition eventually becomes automatism. Doing something without having to think about it is called muscle memory in sport. These processes undergo permanent quality checks: Does this still lead to success or does it have to go?

The automatisms of US President Joe Biden's closest environment should be formatted. The practiced reflexes after cognitive blunders by the almost 82-year-old disregard the fact that a different man is now entering the race than four years ago. Biden's tipping points are also becoming more visible away from his appearances.

Collective small talk from the White House
Behind closed doors, Biden is "clear and precise", according to his White House team. The disastrous TV debate in Atlanta against Donald Trump was attributed to a cold and jet lag due to the stress of traveling. The fact is: at the time of Biden's stammering, it had been days since the last time zone change. 

Wife Jill Biden is considered one of the president's closest advisors.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/Evan Vucci)

Biden and his team started 2020 as bridge builders. The political professional with decades of experience actually wanted to hand over to a younger generation after his first term in office. However, the Democrats' fantastic results in the midterm elections are likely to have been misinterpreted internally.

A dangerous bet against time
The bridge has become a dam. Biden has not accepted any internal competitors. His team, consisting of his family and a small circle of advisors, have made him believe that only he could defeat Trump. Political gambling with consequences for the whole world. It is a dangerous bet against an invincible opponent: time.

At the end of the NATO summit on Thursday, Biden revealed once again that the odds couldn't be worse against him. He is losing - and clearly so. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was unceremoniously introduced as "President Putin", and his Vice President was later referred to as "Trump" instead of "Harris".

Selensky reacts to Biden's faux pas: 

The party grandees present sank into their seats, the world press murmured. And then? Muscle memory! That can happen, the rest of the performance was very "clear".

Professional blindness among democrats?
Biden's team is denying the world public its maturity. You misunderstood what you saw, is the message that is currently opening the door to Trump's autocratic dreams. The US president is in free fall in the polls.

Biden's entourage has formed an increasingly protective circle around him in recent years. The US president is completely shielded. Not for decades has a "Commander-in-Chief" given so few interviews and press conferences. However, the White House should also be aware of how serious the situation is.

Cotton candy for Biden
In meetings with staff putting together formal briefings for Biden, some senior officials have sometimes gone to great lengths to frame the information presented in a way that does not provoke a negative reaction. The 81-year-old is known for reacting brusquely to unwelcome topics. 

"People are scared shitless of him."

Insider über Biden

Employees are often told: "You can't include that, it would upset him." Or: "Put that in, he likes it," a senior administration official told Politico. "It's a Rorschach test, not a briefing. Because he's not a pleasant person to be briefed. It's very difficult, and people are scared shitless of him."

Public as a danger zone for Biden
Biden's schedule is a major cause for concern. His public appearances have been reduced to a minimum. Even presidential feel-good appointments are being canceled, such as the traditional brief interview before the Super Bowl. Anything that is not scripted harbors uncanny dangers. 

It's up to Biden

• Biden is to be officially chosen as the Democratic candidate at the party convention in August.
• He has already won the necessary delegate votes in the primaries.
• Therefore, only he can decide to drop out of the race.

Biden also seems increasingly absent when reading from teleprompters. For example, instructions such as "pause" are written on the screen in front of the lectern to give the prescribed speech a rhythm. The US President reads these instructions over and over again, creating a remote-controlled impression. He often notices the lapses himself, but this self-reflection also diminishes.

An example of Biden's teleprompter lapses:

Since the Atlanta debate disaster, which probably surprised no one internally, there have been crisis meetings almost daily. Many Democrats and major donors are now disregarding the outdated reflex line from the White House. 

Clooney text in consultation with Obama?
An emotional opinion piece by Hollywood actor George Clooney in the New York Times attracted a great deal of attention. He "loved" Biden, but had experienced a changed man at a fundraising gala he had organized. The man that the world is now seeing.

According to "Politico", the influential Biden supporter was in contact with Barack Obama before his article appeared. The former US president is said not to have encouraged Clooney to make his comments, but more importantly, Obama did not try to prevent the text from being published. The US newspaper did not provide any further details.

God or Biden's team?
The ex-president also appeared at the glamorous event in Los Angeles. A video recording of the evening suggests that Obama had to escort his former vice president off the stage after Biden lost his bearings. Again, the White House's muscle memory kicked in. All nonsense and malicious.

Biden and Obama at George Clooney's fundraiser

(Bild: AFP/Mandel NGAN)

Instead, it is repeatedly emphasized that the US president is rock-solidly convinced of his candidacy. Biden recently made it clear that he would only withdraw if his team told him that "I can't win". Or if God spoke to him. The question remains: who will tell him? It's time!