Off With His Figurehead

In his first press conference in over eight months, President Biden did his best to address questions from the media, often trailing off and making a number of gaffes, including referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. While his debate earlier this month with Trump was billed as an opportunity for Biden to demonstrate his Presidential Preparedness, the Democrats now appear to be purposefully allowing the leader to flounder in hopes of paving way for his replacement. During the conference, the President spent 59 minutes attempting to quell fears regarding his age and mental acuity by answering foreign policy questions following a NATO summit. Instead, he may have inadvertently given his farewell address.

Immediately following the conference, meant to showcase Biden’s understanding of world events, the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee urged the President to step aside. Jim Himes of Connecticut released a statement reading “President Joe Biden is a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service, undeniable achievement and unconditional patriotism. It is because of those traits, and in consideration of that legacy, that I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign.”

While lawmakers and celebrities, including longtime fans such as George Clooney, have begun to aggressively call for the President's withdrawal, the Democratic National Committee is doubling down on Joe. DNC Chairman Jaime Harriman said Biden's conference was a "masterclass… of complex international foreign policy" and insisted he was still the individual most qualified and prepared to lead. One must wonder if Harriman truly believes Biden's capability or if he hopes to keep him in the race long enough for states to start printing ballots with his name on them. Once past that threshold, the DNC can replace the President with anyone of their choosing and still ask voters to mark a Biden/Harris box come November.

The display comes on the heels of troubling leaks from within the beltway, which indicate Biden struggles even with informal, small-group meetings. Cabinet officials are reportedly required to submit questions and answers in advance of interactions so that Biden knows what is expected of him. Others claim they have no idea how the President is doing because they are allowed to see him so infrequently. The last full meeting of the President's cabinet took place in October of 2023, six months before he even announced his intention to run again. It was reportedly scripted.

The timeline of Biden's decline is perhaps the most troubling portion of our reality, as it seems the President has been struggling for quite some period without intervention or relief. Given 2020's Covid-era campaigning protocol, which rarely saw Joe interacting with anyone outside of his team or a supportive media, he may not have even had the energy for term one. Given new information regarding his ongoing condition and the date of his announced intention to run, it is not out of the question that Democrats have known he couldn't outlast the campaign and have allowed recent events to unfold with little regard for the security of the American people in hopes of shepherding a last-minute replacement to victory.

Years of fearmongering have evidently left the Democratic party truly believing that anyone- genuinely any unknown individual- is a better option than electing Donald Trump as President. That some halfway junta of shrouded party executives, themselves able to avoid the fray of public vetting and voting, should be allowed to seize complete control of the United States of America is unconscionable and cannot be permitted.

The beauty of American democracy is that personality stands independently from party. While many will vote a party line this November, they do so trusting that each individual candidate brings with them a nuanced, living opinion entirely unique from a static party platform. The knowledge that world events can shift in a moment- and therefore their appropriate response- leaves us with a grave responsibility to ensure that the individual in charge is independent, sharp, and able to pivot in both his unilateral and collaborative decisions.

One important purpose of term limits is to ensure that the sitting President cares more for our country's legacy than the preservation of his career, a concept paid bureaucrats have no need or desire to understand. Proper leadership, rather than a continued reign of public employees who negotiate their own salaries and retirement, must be the absolute priority of any election, national or otherwise. Town committees and their delegates who conduct the yeoman service of candidate selection and qualification year-round cannot be disrespected or disregarded, and must continue to lead ballot selection. At this late stage, to suggest substitution with anyone other than the pre-selected number two, Kamala Harris, is simply un-American. President Biden is being used as a Trojan Horse, and voters now know more than enough to leave the gates shut.

Whether or not Biden actually runs in November is already moot- the shark has been preemptively jumped. Either we move forward with a leader who is visibly and audibly incapable of handling the job and admit his involvement is limited, or we indulge Potemkin campaigns of preselected replacements who would agree to any national agenda to leapfrog the typical campaigning and elimination associated with the Presidency. Neither option maintains the letter or spirit of election integrity.

Those who claim his perceived stamina at being able to stand and speak for an hour qualifies Biden for reelection are no longer pretending his position is beyond symbolic. Those who continue to rally around his downfall believe his ability to announce plans- drawn up by unknown bureaucrats with hidden interests and agendas- suffices leadership. Some have questioned how Biden would handle complex issues of diplomacy and war at 3 am, a worst-case scenario whose mishandling could spell generational disaster for the United States. At this point, one must wonder- do they even intend to wake the President up?

Do you feel that President Biden should continue his campaign for reelection? If not, how should a replacement be selected?

Hilary Gunn is a Connecticut native with a degree in Criminal Justice from the George Washington University. She works for a nonprofit and has previously collaborated with the CT GOP as an activist, political campaign manager and field director, and social media organizer. She is currently serving in her fourth term of municipal office and has previously acted as a delegate on the Republican Town Committee.