OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As many are speculating that the match for the presidency in 2024 will be another round of President Joe Biden versus former President Donald Trump, some reporters notice a glaring detail that could be humiliating for the current president.
Politico reporters Jonathan Lemire and Meredith McGraw reported the detail in a piece they penned about the potential 2024 showdown.
“Still, some allies and Democrats privately worry that Biden may not be able to handle the rigors of another campaign,” the reporters said.
“A bone he broke in his foot while playing with his dog in late November 2020 still occasionally bothers Biden, resulting in a slower and shorter gait. And the White House has largely abandoned using the Oval Office for press events in part because it can’t be permanently equipped with a teleprompter; Biden aides prefer the fake White House stage built in the Old Executive Office Building next door for events, sacrificing some of the power of the historic backdrop in favor of an otherwise sterile room that was outfitted with an easily read teleprompter screen,” they said.
Imagine not believing that the President of the United States could speak for himself and then constructing a set with a teleprompter so he knows what to say?
The president is prone to gaffes and has struggled with a stutter for his entire life, but it could be what he says about important issues that make his staff the most concerned.
In January the president was asked by a reporter if he believed the results of the 2022 midterm elections would be legitimate.
“Oh, yeah, I think it easily could be — be illegitimate. Imagine — imagine if, in fact, Trump has succeeded in convincing Pence to not count the votes,” the president said before the reporter had to explain that he was referring to the 2022 midterm elections and not the 2020 election.
“Oh, 2022. I mean, imagine if those attempts to say that the count was not legit. ‘You have to recount it and we’re not going to count — we’re going to discard the following votes,’” the president said.
“I mean, sure, but — I’m not going to say it’s going to be legit. It’s — the increase and the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these — these reforms passed.
“But I don’t think you’re going to see — you’re not going to see me and I don’t think you’re going to see the Democratic Party give up on — coming back and assuming that the attempt fails today,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had to quickly explain.
“Lets be clear: @potus was not casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2022 election. He was making the opposite point: In 2020, a record number of voters turned out in the face of a pandemic, and election officials made sure they could vote and have those votes counted,” she said on Twitter.
Lets be clear: @potus was not casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2022 election. He was making the opposite point: In 2020, a record number of voters turned out in the face of a pandemic, and election officials made sure they could vote and have those votes counted.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 20, 2022
“He was explaining that the results would be illegitimate if states do what the former president asked them to do after the 2020 election: toss out ballots and overturn results after the fact. The Big Lie is putting our democracy at risk. We’re fighting to protect it,” she said.
In March he made another gaffe when speaking to United States troops.
“You know, with the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian people have a lot of backbone, they have a lot of guts and I’m sure you’re observing it,” the president said to members of the 82nd Airborne division in Rzeszów. “And you’re gonna see when you’re there, and some of you have been there. You’re gonna see, you’re gonna see women, young people standing, standing in the middle, in front of a damn tank, just saying I’m not leaving. I’m holding my ground. They’re incredible. But they take a lot of inspiration from us.”
While speaking with U.S Army 82nd Airborne Division Members at the NATO Operations Base in the Polish City of Rzeszow about Ukrainian Citizens, U.S President Biden said," You will see when you are there, People standing in front of a damn tank, saying I'm not leaving". pic.twitter.com/HSkyVHSI7f
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 25, 2022
“And, you know, the woman who just died, the secretary of state, used to have an expression,” he said, appearing to forget the name of the late Secretary if State Madeline Albright, “She said, ‘we are the essential nation.’ It sounds like a bit of a hyperbole but the truth of the matter is you are the organizing principle around which the rest of the free world is, the free world is moving.”
The White House quickly corrected the president’s comments, telling Andrew Feinberg of The Independent that “The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position.”
UPDATE: A @WhiteHouse spokesperson tells me: "The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position."
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) March 25, 2022
And in April he made another incorrect comment that his staff had to fix.
“If your home is powered by safer, cheaper, cleaner electricity like solar or heat pumps, you can save about $500 a month on average,” the president said in a speech.
On the official transcript of the speech on the White House website the claim now reads “If your home is powered by safer, cheaper, cleaner electricity, like solar or heat pumps, you can save about $500 a month [year] on average.”
In a message correcting the president’s remarks the White House said “His plan will help ensure that America creates millions of good-paying union jobs in clean, cutting-edge industries for generations to come. And it will save American families money in the immediate future – including more than $950 a year in gas savings from taking advantage of electric vehicles, and an additional $500 a year from using clean electricity like solar and heat pumps to power their homes.”
And those are only three of the most recent examples.
Maybe he should stick to the teleprompter.
