Fake news: No, Joe Biden was not in decline

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Charles Horowitz, Opinion Contributor

I have worked in the arena. As a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and a veteran of campaigns at every level, I have had the chance to see how government really works — behind the speeches and the soundbites.

I have seen former President Joe Biden — not resembling the caricature in these new political tell-alls that people keep publishing, but as a man committed to serving others, listening when it’s hardest and leading when others duck responsibility.

That’s why it is disheartening to see the growing shelf of books peddling the idea of a president in decline.

Each new volume seems less concerned with truth and more invested in narrative — a cheaply packaged tale of malarkey for the cable news set and the Beltway cocktail circuit. These books offer little that is new, but much that is convenient for those looking to profit from pessimism. They rely on anonymous sources, innuendo, and a tired playbook. They question the man’s faculties, reframe routine deliberation as dysfunction, and ignore inconvenient facts that contradict the thesis.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-fake-news-no-joe-110000454.html

[dchill]

1. ALL to divert attention from the REAL problems.

[nilram]

2. (expletive) yes!

And (another expletive) Jake Tapper for his irresponsible and inaccurate reporting!

[Gimpyknee]

14. Did you read the book?

[nilram]

16. No. I have kept the controversy at arms length

until I read critiques by people who had access to Biden, like Charles Horowitz and John Kerry, and the statements that Tapper did not run his assertions by sources in the White House, as would be journalistic practice. I trust Kerry especially.

[Hoosier_Progressiv]

3. Yes, for a president in decline

just look at the current resident of the Whitehouse.

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. Why do we reject anonymous sourcing when it is critical of Biden?

But embrace it when it excoriates Trump?

A bit of hypocrisy, IMO.

(BTW, lots of sources have gone on the record about their observations of Biden’s decline, plus there is plenty of video evidence to contrast with just a year or two earlier)

[Joinfortmill]

8. Joe was aging. There's a difference.

Not to mention, Trump no longer makes sense most of the time.

[niyad]

10. "no longer"??? When in this century has he ever???

[chowder66]

5. K&R. Worth reading the whole article.

[speak easy]

6. 'No, Joe Biden was not in decline'

and the June 27, 2024 Debate did not happen.

After that night you were never going to be able to convince the American people that he was up to the job, having bad night with a cold, or otherwise.

[Dock_Yard]

13. Agreed, 2024 debate WAS bad. But compare ANY of Joe's hesitancy to ANY of Taco's demented babble before or after.

[speak easy]

15. I think when people say decline they mean different things.

Was Joe the same debater who took apart Paul Ryan in 2012? - Obviously not.
Was Joe as physically fit in 2024 as he was in 2012? Ditto.

Was Joe up to be job of POTUS. I have no reason to believe he was not. President Biden was more competent on his worst day, than Krasnov is on any day.

This is not really what the argument is about. It.s whether Joe Biden was up to the job of running again. That is what his inner circle is accused of screwing up. The Biden of 2020 could have won 2024 election. The Biden of 2024 could not win in 2024, not after the debate. That's what decline means to me.

[Joinfortmill]

7. Millions agree with you, including me.

[flashman13]

9. I don't need to read any books. I do know what I saw.

There is no question that Joe Biden stepped up and saved the country from the disaster wrought by tRump. He appointed all of the best people (except for Garland who is the person that set us on the path to the current tRump disaster) and put the country on the road to a new revival. Turning the country around was an incredible feat and definitely puts him on the short list of great presidents. But....

I tried my best at the beginning of 2024 to ignore what I saw. The debate, if you could call it that, was the last straw.

Was Joe Biden declining in the last year of his term? - Yes

Did he have another four years in him? - No

Could he have beat tRump in the election? - No

[pansypoo53219]

11. again. a dead biden is still better + smarter than drumpf.

[elleng]

12. Was great to see Joe interviewed today!!!