Joe Biden was in Massachusetts on Tuesday looking to raise some campaign cash, and while speaking with donors he made a rather concerning revelation about his 2024 campaign.
"But I tell you what: If we don't win this time — not because I'm running, and I know it sounds like a self-serving assertion — but there's a new article — there's a new maga —not new magazine," Biden said. "The Atlantic magazine has a new issue out with 20 major articles by 20 different individuals — 20 different commentators or academics — all making the case why American democracy is at risk. Twenty of them—Democrats, Republicans, and independents."
It's almost painful to see how he struggled to make his point. You can almost hear the strain in his voice. But here's what was really concerning about his speech: When Biden continued, he said (with emphasis added), "Folks, this is a big deal, this election. We’ve got to get it done — not because of me, and I mean that. If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running. But we cannot let him win, for the sake of the country."
In other words, Biden isn't running because he thinks he's capable of the job; he's running because he thinks he's the only Democrat who can beat Trump.
Okay, it's not exactly shocking in the sense that we didn't already know that Biden fancies himself the only Democrat who can beat Trump. He has been saying as much for a long time now.
Last year, when it wasn't yet clear that he would run again, several news sources reported that Biden told Barack Obama during his visit to the White House that he was definitely running, and sources familiar with the conversation indicated that Biden believes he is the only Democrat who can prevent Trump from returning to the White House.
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“I believe he thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump," a source familiar with the conversation told The Hill. "I don’t think he thinks there’s anyone in the Democratic Party who can beat Trump and that’s the biggest factor."
So why is it important that Biden admitted that he probably wouldn't be running again if Trump weren't running? It means he knows what the rest of us have known since Biden first announced his intention to run against Trump back in April 2019: he's too old, weak, and cognitively impaired for such an important job. Everyone knew it.
Even before Biden took office, it was widely speculated that he wouldn't serve out a full term. Mere months into his presidency, the media didn't even shy away from polling Democrat voters to see which potential candidate they preferred if Biden chose not to run again.
Heck, even before the election, many believed that Biden was a Trojan Horse candidate whose “electability” would get the Democrats back in the White House, and the expectation was that he would resign after a short period to let his running mate ascend to the presidency. Perhaps the only thing that has kept him in the White House is his historically unpopular vice president, Kamala Harris.
It's likely that Biden doesn't even want to run again, and based on his low-energy campaign, it's a safe bet that is the case.
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