We Need to Talk About Joe Biden

Do not throw the President out with the bath water.

Thursday, June 27th, 2024, will go down in history as the worst performance ever at a US presidential debate. President Joe Biden was an unmitigated disaster. Before the debate was even over, full-blown panic broke out amongst the Democrats, and a media frenzy soon followed.

A couple of days later, major newspaper editorialists and well-respected political commentators were calling for Joe Biden to withdraw from the race to let somebody else take on Donald Trump in order "to save democracy". Even the hallowed "Economist" magazine in London declared

"Joe Biden should now give way to an alternative candidate".

An Example of the Media Frenzy, Time Magazine Cover June 28th 2024

Right after the debate I had the opportunity to give my immediate thoughts in the post :

Is this the beginning of the end for Joe Biden?"

where I notably urged caution and described the pitfalls of trying to replace Joe Biden on the Democrat's ticket, especially if he didn't want to go willingly.

After careful consideration, I respectfully have to disagree with most of the pundits, esteemed editorialists and hallowed news magazines. This is neither presumptuous nor hubris on my part. I have been preoccupied with the danger of Donald Trump for quite some time now, as demonstrated in great detail in my book "2024: A Call to Arms". My main thesis whereby it is vital for the safeguard of American democracy and a stable and peaceful word order that we all keep our eyes wide open and call a spade a spade. Donald Trump is a fascist. Full stop. Period.

Moreover, he is a convicted serial mythomaniac with very limited intellectual skills, which makes him easily manipulated by more malfeasant forces, both within America and abroad, who seek to use him to further their malicious designs. Once the useful idiot is no longer useful, the fascistic forces that he will have unleashed will devour him as well, leaving the world in an even worse state.

At the risk of repeating myself, America has not yet woken up to the real threat of unwittingly killing off democracy by embracing authoritarianism. What happens in America matters for the whole world—when the American Eagle dreams of “The Great Dictator” goose-stepping us into bloodshed and misery Charlie Chaplin-like, the world needs kindness and gentleness. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck, albeit a brigade of ducks with red hats, matching ties and confederate flags on their tails, carrying tiki torches and waddling in harmony to a distinctively Wagnerian tune. 

It is time for everyday Americans to grasp the true meaning of the forthcoming elections. The choice is not between the lesser of two evils or similar candidates, lacking in key qualities to be president Tweedledum and Tweedledee-like. We have to end with the false equivalencies and stop pretending that Trump is a "normal" and legitimate candidate.

Already today, the press, also on the liberal side, is treating Trump as a regular candidate, comparing his policies to those of Biden and allowing the false equivalency to set in between a truly extreme, fascist candidate who has been twice impeached, who has attempted a constitutional coup, who has instigated an armed insurrection against Congress and the American people, who has been convicted for sexual assault by a civil court in New York by a jury of his peers, who has been convicted for fraud and who suffers from apparent cognitive deficiencies. It is not a question of voting for “a lesser of two evils”, as Trump is in a category of evilness all by himself. In other words, “a disgraced, twice-impeached, four times indicted liable for sexual abuse, defamation and financial fraud ex-president” vs “an experienced, family loving, respectable ex-Seantor and the current successful president”.

Any references to the concept of evil are intended not as religious dogma but based on the secular moral concept.[i] 

“Evil exists in the way that courage, malice, or honesty exist; not as a mysterious supernatural force that is capable of taking over a person, but as a character trait and as a moral property of actions.”

The often-mentioned “clash of good vs. evil” in this context has more to do with Trump’s lack of moral compass compared to Biden’s moral character.

The 2024 election is not only a referendum on democracy, Trump, or Biden. Like all elections, it is a choice — but in 2024, the choice is between two radically different visions for America: one that will lead the nation down the dark road of authoritarianism and fascism and one that will build a new democracy based on unifying all people of goodwill who want to defend the Constitution, the rule of law, essential freedoms, and liberty.

Amid the increasingly loud calls for Biden to withdraw in order "to save democracy" as he is no longer fit to be President (despite having been one of the best presidents in modern history with a record to prove it), I am all the more shocked that the same press outlets, pundits and commentators are not calling out with equal vigour and earnestness for Trump to withdraw and for the Republicans to replace him on the Republican ticket because he is also unfit to be president. After all, he seeks to destroy the almost 250-year American experience of democracy to satisfy his ego and protect himself from having to face righteous justice from the courts for the suspected numerous crimes he has committed, not least attempting to overthrow a legally elected president with a far-reaching conspiracy culminating in the January 6th 2021 attack on the Capitol.

The only remaining rampart against the tragedy of re-electing Donald Trump is re-electing President Joe Biden for a second term. Contrary to what is becoming common truth, anything else is fantasy and will only weaken the prospects of defeating Donald Trump, which is at least something all of us calling to save democracy in America can agree on.

Even if President Biden "does not walk as well as he used to, does not speak as well as he used to or does not debate as well as he used to," he is not only the best candidate for president; he is the only candidate. He is fond of saying, "Do not compare me to the almighty; compare me to the alternative." This is all the more poignant and relevant as the alternative is Donald Trump, whose complete lack of any morals and fundamentally flawed character is only surpassed by the clear and present danger he represents to the essence of American democracy.

We should focus the spotlight on Donald Trump and never give up on exposing him for what he truly is, the evil he represents and never cease calling a spade a spade. Otherwise, we will be digging the grave of American democracy, and we will not even have the freedom anymore to cry our eyes out in despair in a future Trumpian dictatorship.

Granted, President Biden's performance in Atlanta cannot be underestimated or swept under the carpet. But let us not make the mistake of throwing Joe Biden out with the presidential bath water. The unwanted consequences would seal the fate of the incommensurable values of liberty, equality, and freedom that we all cherish so dearly.

• Please read or a more detailed analysis of the risk of a second Donald Trump presidency

Addendum : Congratulations to Mika Brezinski from stating the case for Joe Biden with such clarity and passion this morning on "Morning Joe". One does not have to be close to the Biden family to understand right from wrong:

Morning Joe July 1st 2024

[i] Russell, L. (2014) Evil. A Philosophical Investigation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.