As the political storm sparked by President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance continues to spiral out of control, Democrats at the highest levels of the party are openly debating not just the merits of nominating someone to replace Biden in November’s presidential election, but also the mechanics of doing so.
But amid growing noise from prominent Democratic elected officials, institutions and the media, Joe Biden continues to adamantly, even defiantly, insist he has no plans to withdraw from the race.
How is that possible? Why are top Democrats so divided on this issue?
The New York Times editorial board didn’t suddenly decide one day that they didn’t like Biden anymore, and the list of Democrats calling for Biden to step down as a candidate is hardly a “Never Biden” group. All of those who suggest that Biden might not be up to the task publicly as a candidate, and privately again as president, are taking very reasonable positions, based on the evidence of what they saw and heard at the debates and the debacle of his failed damage-control tour.
Again, these people are not crazy. They, like most of the rest of the country, want to know: Why isn’t Biden standing by?
But that’s the wrong question. At least it’s a secondary question. The real question people should be asking is, “What is Biden listening to?”
The presidency is one of the most isolating and insulated professions in the world. It’s hard to overstate how much the president relies on his closest circle of advisers to help him cope with reality. Most people who enter the Oval Office are very conscious of not wanting to upset the president who sits behind the desk. But having at least one person who can tell the president things that everyone else is too afraid to say is essential for the administration to function properly.
It’s unclear whether that’s happening within the Biden administration, but there are certainly some hints.
“Joe, you did a great job. You answered every question and you had all the facts!” These were the words of First Lady Jill Biden immediately after the debate. She then turned to the crowd and asked, “Hasn’t the president done a great job? Yes he has!”[F]Many more years to us!
Another data point: last weekend, the White House leaked word that Biden was literally outdoing his much younger staff, and then, of course, the White House press secretary reminded everyone that the president simply had a cold on the day of the debate and was “over-prepared.”
Against this backdrop, it’s not hard to imagine that no one in the White House would want to tell the president what everyone saw last week.
You can’t blame Biden for resisting efforts to oust him — after all, how would you feel if everyone you know and trust told you that you “know all the answers,” that you had a bad day because their staff didn’t prepare you properly, and that the efforts to remove you were an elitist plot?
It’s especially telling that Biden said he didn’t watch the debate himself (or at least didn’t recall watching it). The only way that could happen is if White House staff were actively trying to avoid him being seen, including the First Lady when the president leaves the West Wing of the White House each day to return to the residence.
“How can someone who watched the debates think Biden is up to the job?” is a meaningless question to someone who didn’t watch the debates — and they probably won’t watch the debates.
The president is ultimately responsible for his actions and decisions. Yes, the responsibility lies with the president. But the president relies heavily on his senior advisers to make decisions. When the people entrusted with these roles decide that pleasing the president is more important than telling the hard truth, really bad things can happen.
Before we can ask what Biden is thinking, we must ask what he is hearing, and all the evidence suggests that what he is hearing is that all is well.
It’s a formula for disaster, and not just politically.
Mick Mulvaney is a former congressman from South Carolina and NewsNation contributor who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump.
