OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) claims that a Democratic “deep state” run by former President Barack Obama will prevent President Joe Biden from being the Democratic nominee for president in 2024 this fall.
Patrick wrote on X, the website that was formerly known as Twitter, “I’ve said for over a year many times that Joe Biden would not be on the ticket and Michelle Obama would be the likely nominee. It’s clear the Democrat deep state run by Barack Obama knew they had to take him down to give them a chance in November.”
Patrick referred to the controversy when a report from a special counsel appointed by former President Donald Trump stated that Biden would not face criminal charges for handling classified documents outside of a secure setting.
Republicans seized on the report’s many disparaging remarks about Biden’s memory and age.
At a Thursday night press conference, Biden angrily criticized the report and fielded questions, at one point mistaking the president of Egypt for the president of Mexico. A few Democrats have admitted that there were issues with the presser.
Patrick perceived a vast conspiracy involving the Obama family and the deep state, even though many Democrats have blamed the special counsel and claimed the report contained cheap political shorts. He contended that the report was a set piece.
“They set him up in the report, calling him a ‘sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,’” he wrote. “They could have protected him by putting him in the Oval Office to read a statement with no press questions. Instead, they sent him out and fed him to the press, where he was a total embarrassment. He doesn’t have a memory, and Kamala doesn’t have a brain. Now they have a real problem.”
For years, there have been persistent rumors in the media that Michelle Obama, the former first lady, might be a Democratic presidential candidate in the sleeper stage. Despite being one of the most well-known and popular politicians in the nation, she has shown little interest in seeking public office. Michelle Obama has made no announcements about her intention to run for president. There’s also no indication that there’s a “deep state” of Obama allies trying to “take down” Biden.
Just this week, Karl Rove, the former strategist for President George W. Bush, called the notion that Michelle Obama might run as a Democratic presidential candidate “pure lunacy,” though he did speculate that Biden might withdraw due to age-related concerns. Before the publication of special counsel Robert Hur’s report, Rove made these statements.
A new survey spells more bad news for Biden as nearly 9 in 10 respondents, or 89 percent, have some concerns about Biden’s mental status.
The fallout from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s damning report regarding Biden’s mishandling of classified information continued this week after he released his findings, and much of it has to do not with Biden’s documents but with his declining mental state.
Per the Washington Examiner, here is a list of references that Hur made regarding Biden’s declining mental capacity and memory:
— “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023.”
— “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
— “Mr. Biden’s memory also appeared to have significant limitations — both at the time he spoke to Zwonitzer in 2017, as evidenced by their recorded conversations, and today, as evidenced by his recorded interview with our office. Mr. Biden’s recorded conversations with Zwonitzer from 2017 are often painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”
— “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘If it was 2013 — when did I stop being vice president?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘In 2009, am I still vice president?’).”
— “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.”
— “His memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with Gen. Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally who Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.”
