Joe Biden: what were they thinking?
Commenter “TommyJay” asks:
What were the Dem leadership and their minions thinking when they engaged in this massive coverup of Sloe Joe’s feebleness and disfunction?
Good question. along with the related one of “why did they think they could get away with it?” Short version of the answer: they thought it was their only option.
If we go back in time to the 2020 campaign, it was obvious that a second Donald Trump term would be a truly nightmare scenario for the Democrats. They felt they absolutely had to win. The only thing they lacked was a healthy, vigorous candidate who could do it. Bernie Sanders become – to their horror – the frontrunner but he was too old, too obviously leftist, too ethnically Jewish. He simply wouldn’t do because they felt he would lose the election. Kamala Harris was great on paper in terms of identity politics but seemed to have zero electoral appeal even to Democrats, much less Republicans and/or Independents. The others in the running were hardly doing much better.
The Democrats’ only hope became Joe Biden, whom they knew they could label a moderate compared to Sanders. Whatever cognitive problems he had – and he clearly had them even in 2020, although not as severe as they later became – the Democrats wagered they could cover up and/or minimize them in the highly unusual COVID campaign season. The others were pressured to drop out, Biden became the nominee, and then there was a full court press to rig the election through the cooperation of the MSM and the intelligence community, which (among other things) managed to suppress and discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story when it surfaced near the election. Biden’s cognitive problems offered an opportunity for control by others who were to the left of Biden himself, which they considered a feature rather than a bug.
Remember after the election, how the right was betting that Biden wouldn’t last? That he’d retire by June, a lot of people said, and would be replaced. I didn’t think so, for one simple reason: Kamala Harris was not ready for prime time, and as a black woman she could not be bypassed for a substitute. I believe that Biden’s handlers were surprised at how incompetent she seemed, much more than they were surprised at any of Biden’s deficits. So they were stuck with him, and stuck with her, and they never really figured a way out of that dilemma for the entire four years of the Biden administration.
As far as the 2024 campaign went, my guess is that they didn’t really try to talk Biden out of running at first, even though his cognitive issues had increased, because they still didn’t have a winning replacement. They hoped to take Trump out by lawfare anyway, and that would solve the problem. They tried to do that; oh how they tried! But the lawfare didn’t work and the Biden/Trump debate loomed. Did Biden do worse in that debate than they expected, or exactly as bad as they expected? I don’t know, but that’s the point at which they suddenly were forced to acknowledge – because it simply could not be denied any longer – that Biden couldn’t run for president in 2024 and had to be replaced.
Things were in a state of flux for a little while, and it was during that time that Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt. What didn’t kill him made him stronger as a candidate. About a week later Biden withdrew from the race, and Harris became his nearly immediate replacement. The Democrats didn’t see any other way to deal with the mess, and they still had to pretend that Biden had dropped out for other reasons because to admit he was too cognitively challenged would be to admit that they’d covered it up for a long time. Therefore the message the campaign put out was that Biden was stepping aside to make room for youth. And Harris was also left with few options but to go around pretending Biden was cognitively intact, as well, because as his VP she had to have known and been part of any coverup.
From start to finish the entire thing was determined by the fact that Democrats had no good candidates to run as alternatives. They hoped that the MSM’s cooperation would help their sleight of hand fool the public one more time and Harris would become president. Fortunately, it didn’t work.
Now they have some ‘splaining to do, and the agreed-on narrative du jour is that they – the press and the Democrats, that is – were fooled by a bunch of canny political aides to Biden. And additionally, that Biden was too selfish and foolhardy to drop out in a timely fashion and give Kamala a chance to blossom and shine – although anyone who actually watched Harris in interviews would have been aware that time was not her friend. The tack they’re taking is ludicrous, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a better one. The truth makes them look like knaves and fools; the lie makes them look like knaves and fools. So knaves and fools it is.
Democratic politicians and operatives are liars by default. The media used to employ people who were not liars by default, even if they favored the Democratic Party. They also had more influence on people’s thinking. The whole charade ran on everyone lying and on Democratic voters being so indifferent to propriety or national welfare that they did not care. Eventually it came to a point when the liars thought they’d lose the small population of swing voters, so they had to hit the eject button.
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Any high government official, any lawyer, any (Democratic) judge, any Regime Media figure, anyone in educational administration, partisan Democrats on faculty, anyone in public health, anyone in the mental health trade, and anyone employed in public relations are properly assumed to be lying. It’s what they do.
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We used to be better than this.
It’s knaves and fools all the way down!
I don’t see how they could have done better either.
Frankly I’m surprised Trump is still alive.
the system works very well ‘from a certain point of view, not merely the Democratic party, but the other tentacles of the Apparat like the Media, the Security Services, the word syzgy comes to mind, because it’s a nearly seemless merger, even most of the domesticated opposition, so Kabul capitulation, yeah regretable, but it had to happen, inflation wasn’t happening it won’t last, and noticing it is racist,
many of the candidates in 2020, were for show, they get their piece of the action, like Warren, or Swalwell, (the last is the answer to a ridiculous trivial pursuit question,)
some get the
preferred successor role, despite their lack of popularity, because diversity, same with the Cabinet positions with Buttigeg, some like Blinken, had been associated with the Old Man for 30 years, and nothing like his own man, in the organization, in fact he deferred to his putative underling Robert Malley,
Um, no.
Knaves all the way down the line.
But even THAT’S not it.
They’re evil.
Pure, unadulterated, manipulative, malice-aforethought evil.
The bigger problem is all their supporters (not far off 50% in 2024 – 49.9% Trump; 48.4% Harris) that go for straight party ticket. If the Devil himself showed up (I suppose that’s redundant) without the mask, these fools would still vote “D”.
I’ve still not figured out TDS – I can’t get a straight coherent answer of why from those infected – but it’s a real and serious problem, especially when evident in positions of authority from DMV to the Supreme Court.
The Ds have no one for 2028 … and perhaps neither do the Rs.
If we survive as a nation until then (are we still a “nation” or just an un-unified political division?).
The Democrats don’t like elections. Neither primary nor general elections. Biden’s primary win was rigged. There was no primary for Kamala.
They rigged the 2020 election and thought they could do the same in 2024. Fortunately, Lara Trump and Michael Whatley organized enough of a ground game that the vote was too big to rig. That won’t discourage them.
The 2026 and 28 elections will see even more rigging by the Dems. Count on it. No matter the success of this Trump term (and I think it will be quite successful), they will do anything to win. They’re working on it right now.
Art Deco and Barry summed up what I was going to say. At the top of D party are the cynical evil people. As DT brings up, it’s the millions of TDS sufferers who are the real problem. The ones I know are not power hungry, cynical, do anything to win people, but they fall in line like sheep.
The Hur-Biden interview audio released. Damn sure “they” weren’t thinking this.
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/16/biden-hur-tape-special-counsel-audio
Kamala Harris “not ready for prime time”?
Gosh! When did this blog turn into the Bee?
(But what are her pronouns?? Tell me true…)
I think there’s another key piece of the puzzle that explains both 2020 and 2024: Joe Biden could deliver Pennsylvania. No other Democrat could. Here’s what I think happened…
Joe Biden was from Scranton (I think he may have mentioned that once or twice) and a politician of 50 years from nearby Delaware. He was so tied into Pennsylvania politics that for years he was known as “the third senator from Pennsylvania”, and he had de facto control of the Philadelphia machine.
Trump won against Hillary in 2016 by breaking the so-called blue wall in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Not by much, but it was enough. Biden’s control of the Philadelphia machine could deliver Pennsylvania to the Democrats, and his blue-collar persona could bring Michigan and Wisconsin close enough to steal. And that’s exactly what happened in 2020.
2024 was looking like a repeat of 2020, but then the Democrats stabbed Joe Biden in the back. Biden, being a vindictive SOB much like Trump is, sabotaged the Democrats by quickly endorsing Harris. Then he put word out to the Philadelphia machine “Don’t go out of your way for her.”
On election night North Carolina and Pennsylvania were quickly called for Trump. That froze the cheat machines in Michigan and Wisconsin. Those machines could deliver their respective states for Harris, but that might not be enough to keep Trump out of the White House. And if they cheated for Harris and Trump still won, Trump, being the vindictive SOB that he is, *would* come after them. As they say, if you strike at the king, you’d better not miss.
Similar fears filled the minds of the cheat machines in Arizona and Nevada. With the cheat machines frozen, Trump rode to victory. Trump always had the votes to win, it was just a matter of whether the Democrats could steal it again. The Bidens — Joe and his red-dress-wearing wife — made sure that didn’t happen, at least not in Pennsylvania. Fear froze the other swing-state machines.
Part of this media campaign is to destroy the legacy of Joe Biden so they can wrest control of the Philadelphia machine away from the Biden family in preparation for 2028. They obviously can’t be honest about the reason why, so this is what they’re using to explain the infighting.
I think Biden’s control of the Philadelphia machine explains both 2020 and 2024 and also the fight we’re seeing now.
Totally unrelated:
“US Drug Overdose Deaths Fall Nearly 27 Percent To Lowest Level In 5 Years”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-drug-overdose-deaths-fall-nearly-27-percent-lowest-level-5-years
No comment was forthcoming, however, from “sympathetic, well-meaning” (and no doubt, amiable) President Fentanyl-Tranq…
“I’ve still not figured out TDS” — DT
That’s because Trump Derangement Syndrome is misnamed. TDS predates Trump, 20 years ago it was called ‘Bush Derangement Syndrome’, and it worked about the same way. They accused W of planning 911, deliberately working to destroy New Orleans, stealing elections, etc.
Forty years ago, it was Reagan, though the ‘derangement syndrome’ phrasing hadn’t yet been coined, it was the same mix of conscious lies and sincere lunacy. Republican Derangement Syndrome has been a thing throughout my adult life. The details of the allegations vary, but it’s variations on a theme.
It’s a bit more _intense_ with Trump, simply because he’s effective and also because Trump sometimes stokes it intentionally as PR.
…”the press and the Democrats, that is – were fooled by a bunch of canny political aides to Biden…”
Isn’t it interesting though, that these Masters of Deception are still unnamed, unlisted, and unexamined? Why, this is a hoax worthy of a Peter Ustinov movie. You would think the investigative reporters at our Tribunes of Truth in the Progressive Media would be picking this one apart in great detail, if their assertions were true. Who were these Masters? Tell us, and then tell us what they did. Take your time, be thorough – we have 3½ more years to listen to the Inside Story. Maybe the Progressives could learn something that will help them in 2028.
I think at this point that, between neo’s and mkent’s thoughts, most of the essentials are captured.
I was also thinking that (and this was already touched upon by someone in the threads on this subject, I’m pretty sure) Biden and those around him were probably thinking about how it would come across if he had resigned, for example. The money, time and effort spent by thousands of people to get him (and them) to that point, and then just to have it end with a whimper like that? Unacceptable. So he soldiered on.
I’ve just finished up reading Hoover’s book The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilsor, which discusses some of the goings-on around Wilson’s loss of capacity, stroke, etc. in 1919-1920. I think a number of the same factors apply. It’s trite to point out the Wilson affair as an antecedent to the Biden Marionette mess, but still, I think there are interesting parallels.
Don’t forget Scott Presler in PA, JJ.
The inner circle of Biden should be subpoenaed and questioned under oath about the use of the autopen. There is a high probability that many documents that Biden “signed” were not only not signed by him, but were not authorized to be signed by him.
I am not lawyer, but that has to be illegal; passing off a bogus document (i.e., not authorized by the president) as a legally authorized document.
All it will take is just one of Biden’s inner circle to spill the beans and the autopen abuse will be exposed.
Speaking of demokrats; they are malevolent, malicious evil people whose only goal is the achievement of power. They will use any and all means to attain power, including assassination (i.e., murder).
After listening to the Hur interview, it’s clear why they didn’t want the audio released. I think it would have had the same effect as the debate performance. The audio exposes Biden’s impairment in a way the transcript doesn’t. He sounds exactly as Hur described him — a forgetful old man, incapable of standing trial and incapable of handling his duties as President. I don’t think anybody listening to the interview would come to any other conclusion that Biden was suffering from moderate dementia.
From the Democrats point of view it would probably have been better to leak the audio shortly after it was recorded. Biden could have announced that he would not seek a second term, after having done such a great job at saving the country from the evil Trump. Harris would still be a problem but I think the Dems would be in better shape as a party if they did not have to all pretend for another 8 months that Biden was perfectly fine.
Now that it’s suddenly OK for everyone but the demented ladies of the View to acknowledge that Joe was impaired, the Dem politicians who defended Joe’s mental state look like idiots. The stage is set for someone with no connection to Biden/Harris to take over the party. Should be fun to watch.
Arguably, Republican Derangement Syndrome started with Goldwater. It accelerated with Nixon.
Thanks for the reminder, Marisa. Scott Pressler did great work in Pennsylvania.
Thanks to mkent for his analysis of how the Dems failed in their efforts to rig 2024. It rings true. Lesson learned – win the early swing states and the rest will follow? I hope that’s true.
The GOP had organized over 150,000 Republicans to harvest votes, get people registered, and work as poll watchers. Along with the legal beagles necessary to file injunctions and challenge poll irregularities. A more organized effort than in past years. I don’t think that story gets told or recognized.
If you’re young and willing, you could get involved in your local precincts for 2026 and 28. My wife and I used to do that sort of work, but we’re too old now. We still give money (although paltry sums) to favored candidates. If you want to win elections, it helps to do whatever you can, as well as vote.
Re: Why Did They Do It? — Victor Davis Hanson
Hanson has been asking similar questions lately. Not just Democrats running a wax effigy as president and manipulating the US from behind the scenes.
* Why did Democrats destroy the border?
* Why did they create the most nihilistic problem that we will be living with for decades?
* Why did they clear the 2020 primaries so Biden would win? It was risky to do that.
Why? Why? Why?
VDH doesn’t claim to have the answers. We all have guesses, but the Democrats have yet to explain. Probably they won’t.
–Victor Davis Hanson, “Biden’s Enablers Never Told Us Why They Did It.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb0SKImNZ64
It’s long seemed strange to me that we’ve never had any open discussions of these issues, especially the borders. Even Republicans seem reluctant to press for answers.
DT wrote “are we still a ‘nation’ or just an un-unified political division?”
I think in the last 20 years or so we have been transformed from a nation into just a location.
There is something rotten in
DenmarkAmerica.Probably someone else mentioned this but the coverup wasn’t really about Biden. It was about the people making decisions on Biden’s behalf, who badly needed the illusion that Biden was the one in charge.
The Dems do everything at the behest of “the groups” as Ezra Klein called them, and the Deep State and media are always on their side, partly because so many of them are related by blood or marriage or at least went to the same colleges or served in different roles a la Jen Psaki or George Stephanopoulos.
They don’t need Biden to be compos mentis any more than the Party in 1984 needed Big Brother (um, spoiler alert, I guess) to be real.
But not having totalitarian control they can’t LOOK like it doesn’t matter who they slot in as President. The machinery works the same way no matter who’s top billed.
I listened to 3 minutes of the Biden-Hur tape and that’s all I could stand. It’s like a webcam mounted on a turtle:
https://youtu.be/ugM76taxz2E
“What were they thinking?”
The Democrat base is reliable, no matter what, despite being sold a 3rd rate fiction about what happened. Biden was sharp as a tack. Kamala lost because of sexism and racism. Trump is a Russian agent/Fascist/Hitler/Authoritarian destroying Democracy, the Economy, the Constitution killing children by gutting Medicaid and, deporting US citizens. It almost sounds like a cult.