Former Vice President Joe Biden clinched his reputation as a gaffe-maker Thursday evening by announcing at the second Democrat presidential primary debate that, if he defeats President Donald Trump in the general election next year, his first task as president will be to defeat Trump.
And yes, he really said that …
Watch and see for yourself:
Asked by moderator Chuck Todd to list the “first issue” they would address once in office, the other 2020 contenders said they’d solve gun violence (Rep. Eric Swalwell), deal with climate change (Sen. Michael Bennet), bring about political revolution (Sen. Bernie Sanders), etc.
When the former VP’s turn arrived, he started by defending former President Barack Hussein Obama from accusations made earlier in the evening by Todd that he’d failed to tackle climate change.
“I think you so underestimated what Barack Obama did,” Biden said. “He’s the first man to bring together the entire world, 196 countries to commit to the deal with climate change. Immediately.”
After defending Obama’s failed climate accord, the former VP answered the question at hand, saying, “The first thing I would do is make sure that we defeat Donald Trump. Period.”
And in response, the audience burst into applause like trained seals …
Meanwhile, those Americans at home who were actually paying attention and not just clapping along like trained animals rushed to their keyboards to share their confusion and jokes:
did joe biden say his first thing to do as president is defeat donald trump?
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) June 28, 2019
LOL you heard that too? https://t.co/rgFxawKCcr
— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) June 28, 2019
So the first thing Joe Biden would do as President would be to “make sure we defeat Donald Trump!” Umm, wouldn’t he have already defeated Donald Trump if he was president? ?
— Kambree Kawahine Koa (@KamVTV) June 28, 2019
Wait so Joe Biden just said that his first priority if elected President is to “Defeat Donald Trump.” #DemDebate2
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 28, 2019
Chuck Todd said if you could get one thing done as President what would it be? Joe Biden said defeat Donald Trump. Someone tell Joe if he was to become President Trump would no longer be President. Cmon sir. Smh. #DemDebate2
— Tim Black ™ (@RealTimBlack) June 28, 2019
Did Biden say the first thing he’d do as president is make sure we defeat Trump? ?
— Casey Gerald (@CaseyGerald) June 28, 2019
Biden: after defeating Donald Trump my first priority will be defeating Donald Trump
— Aaron Freedman? (@freedaaron) June 28, 2019
He wants to beat him so bad, he wants to do it twice lol.
— Nick Harrison (@HarrisonNick) June 28, 2019
She doesn’t need the White man’s scraps.
Biden said the first thing he would do as President is defeat Donald Trump. What the Hell? Did he even know where he was?
— E-Man (@patch1000) June 28, 2019
Tell us the FIRST issue you’d tackle
on day one AS President:Joe Biden: “to defeat Donald Trump.”
Whut ? ??♀️???????
— Joy Villa (@Joy_Villa) June 28, 2019
Note that the critics included both Republicans and Democrats.
In fact, one far-left commentator went so far as to assert that, based on his lackluster, gaffe-prone performance Thursday, “sleepy” Joe Biden “is just plain out of his depth.”
“Biden has always seemed a little shaky, a little lacking in focus and discipline,” Damon Linker, a former editor for the far-left magazine The New Republic, wrote in a column for The Week on Friday. “He has a reputation as a one-man gaffe machine because he often speaks before he thinks. He’s a politician of impulse and instinct, and his impulses and instincts have frequently been just a bit … off.”‘
“But now, entering his late 70s, gearing up for what could be a 12-month battle with a range of talented Democrats, many of whom are sharper and more nimble than he is and who are perfectly at ease on the far side of the ‘woke’ divide — now Biden is just plain out of his depth. Or so it appeared on Thursday night.”
Linker added that the former VP’s answers to the questions posed by the debate moderators were “generic Democratic-candidate word salads sprinkled with biographical boilerplate and often nonsensical references to the diabolical Trump and the saintly Obama.”
Ouch.
Part of the problem is Biden’s age. He’s 76 in a party so young and arguably immature it desperately seeks to extend voting rights to underage children.
Speaking of young, immature Democrats, 38-year-old Swalwell argued point-blank Thursday that it’s time for older Democrats like Biden “to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans.”
“I was 6 years old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic convention and said it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,” he said. “That candidate was then-Sen. Joe Biden. He was right when he said that 32 years ago. He is still right today.”
Listen:
Interestingly, Sanders, the only candidate older than Biden, later whined to the media about Swalwell’s alleged “ageism,” according to Fox News.
“I think that’s kind of ageism to tell you the truth,” he reportedly said. “And I think what we’re trying to do and all of us are trying to do is to end discrimination in this country against women, against minorities, against the LGBT community, and I think ageism as well.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re old, you’re young, you’re black, you’re white, woman, man, you’ve got to take a hard look at the candidates and what they stand for and what their record has been.”
Following the debate, Biden posted the following tweets:
I just got off the debate stage, where I laid out my vision for the country. We’ll work together to get it done, because there’s not a single thing we can’t do – together. If you agreed with what you heard tonight, join our team and let’s get to work: https://t.co/2LMjeCxvEs
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2019
At last night’s first Democratic debate, I laid out why I’m running for president and my bold vision for the future. A vision built on uniting our country, because there’s not a single thing the American people can’t do — together. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/jzfVUZ5T2x
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2019
Missing from the tweets were any complaints. Though the former VP is “sleepy” and gaffy, one thing he’s clearly not is whiny.
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