By The I & I Editorial Board
A few days ago, #whereisjoe started trending on
Twitter after the presumptive Democratic nominee had gone unseen for
some time in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. But after Joe Biden’s public
address on Monday, his supporters might want him to go back into hiding.
“Biden seeks to offer a possible presidency preview.”
That’s how ABC News promoted the former vice president’s speech, which
streamed live from his home in Delaware. By that measure, Biden’s 15-minute
talk about the coronavirus was an unmitigated disaster.
Biden’s delivery was leaden. He seemed tired.
He slurred his words.
Worse, he repeatedly stumbled in his remarks, despite
reading them from a teleprompter.
At one point, Biden said this: “And uh, in addition to
that, in addition to that, we have to make sure that we, uh, are in a position,
that we are, we. Let me go to the second thing.”
At another, he said: “And we need to build an arsenal
of democracy and, as we did in 1940, we can take, we we we we make personal
productive equipment. Look, here’s the deal, we have to do what we did in
the ‘40s and ‘20s in the 2020s, and we can do that.”
One comment on YouTube aptly summed up what must have
been the reaction of many Democrats.
yo…..he’s looking HELLA tired. and is that a green
screen? and teleprompter?? we waited a week for can-do teleprompter speak?
We’re so screwed.
The contents of Biden’s remarks weren’t any better than
his delivery.
He started by calling for unity and inviting President
Donald Trump to refrain from attacking his political opponents, saying the
president’s daily briefings “are not a place for political attacks.” Then
Biden proceeded to preview a lengthy political attack on Trump that he plans to
use in the presidential campaign, accusing his likely opponent of worsening the
crisis with a slow response.
Biden has been caught repeatedly lying about the
administration’s response. He falsely claimed that Trump cut the budgets
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute
for Health. He lied when he said the World Health Organization “offered
the testing kits that they have available” but “we refused them.” He used a
doctored clip to make the deceptive claim that Trump had called the
outbreak a hoax.
So much for his promise to deliver the “unvarnished truth.”
Biden later claimed he knew way back in late January how
terrible the coronavirus outbreak was going to be, but he didn’t put out his
own response plan until March 12 and many of the items on his list were
already being undertaken by the Trump administration.
In his remarks, Biden repeatedly stressed the importance
of urgency, not only in the public health response but in protecting people
from the economic fallout. “We need to move,” he said, “and we need to move
fast.”
Yet his own party is filibustering a massive
economic stimulus package because liberals want things such as
fuel economy mandates for airlines, tax deductions for solar and wind energy
companies, pro-union workplace rules, and other goodies unrelated to the
crisis.
How’s that for leadership?
Biden also spent a large chunk of his remarks defending
Obamacare. Really? This is how he’s showing leadership? By complaining that a
lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the law is still making its
way through the courts?
Biden then concluded with an attempt at lofty rhetoric
that fell horribly flat.
“Deep in the heart of every American I think there burns
a flame,” he said. “It’s an inheritance from every generation of Americans that
has come before us. That’s why we have overcome every crisis we’ve ever faced
before. You know, it’s what makes this nation so special, why we stand apart.
That flame is not going to be extinguished in this moment.”
What that flame
represents, Biden never said. If there is such a flame, we doubt it burns for
expanding Obamacare and giveaways to wind farms.
Biden says he wants a more public profile during this
crisis. After seeing his first attempt, we wonder if anyone else does.
