Mother Jones illustration; Alex Brandon/AP
Amid a pivotal week for Joe Biden to demonstrate why he deserves to remain the Democratic nominee, the president is reportedly seething. And why wouldn’t he be? Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seemed to publicly urge Biden to reconsider his defiance. George Clooney, a lifelong Democrat, joined mounting calls for him to step down with a brutal op-ed in the New York Times. And, perhaps most embarrassingly, former president Barack Obama reportedly knew of Clooney’s plan in advance and declined to object to it.
Seen from one angle, it seems as though some of the president’s most high-profile allies have turned on him. So much so that Biden apparently sees a plot. “The Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” Joe Scarborough said on Thursday.
This isn’t a small thing. It’s a rather extraordinary allegation, supposedly from Bidenworld, aimed against the president’s most high-profile allies, that adds to what many see as Biden’s increasingly Trumpian turn, unwilling to listen to anyone who dares to check his ego. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. One easily imagines Trump doing the same: questioning the smallest criticism as evidence of a deep-state plot intended to destroy them.
It should come as no surprise that the right is cheering on these alleged suspicions.
Any supposed wound that Biden and his campaign may feel watching his friends come out against him is further evidence that the president sees this race on misguided, awfully narcissistic, terms.
But seen from another angle, is Biden’s hunch justified, even correct? Pelosi and Obama are, after all, highly skilled politicians who do not desire another Trump White House. Any action they might be taking amid devastating polls and alarm over the serious possibility of a Trump landslide would be a responsible, rational response. Their reported willingness to publicly suggest that Biden should be replaced only underscores that Biden, an 81-year-old surrounded by yes-men, is playing a reckless and delusional game by remaining in the race. If they criticize him too much and he doesn’t drop? Then, they helped Trump win by kneecapping the president. If they don’t criticize him and he doesn’t drop? Well, you left a bad candidate in—and helped Trump win. Any supposed wound that Biden and his campaign may feel watching his friends come out against him is further evidence that the president sees this race on misguided, awfully narcissistic, terms.
Biden has already told us this. “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and did the good as job as I know I could do,” Biden told George Stephanopoulos when asked how he would feel if Biden ended up losing to Trump.
It’s been more than two weeks since Biden stunned with his disastrous debate performance. In that period, poll after poll has shown mounting demand for an alternative nominee. If nothing else positive can be said of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama trying to get Biden to step down but not outright saying it, at least it implies they can do something our current president cannot: read the room.
