I have to admit that I had no idea which Joe Biden was going to show up last night. Was it going to be the Joe Biden we saw at the State of the Union or the Joe Biden we've seen at every other public appearance he's made?
After all, Biden's only goal in this debate was to reassure his own party that he is up to the job of the presidency. I don't think anyone who watched the debate thought he succeeded. But make no mistake about it, Biden's debate performance Thursday was a huge scandal — and perhaps not for the reason many are thinking.
The reactions to Biden's poor debate performance were swift and damning, highlighting a growing sense of unease within the Democratic Party. NBC's Chuck Todd observed that Biden "looks like the caricature that conservative media has been painting ... you saw it before your eyes!" His colleague Kristen Welker admitted, "There's widespread panic among Democrats."
The severity of the situation echoed across the networks.
CNN's Chris Wallace likened the spectacle to a "car accident in slow motion." John King noted, "[Team Biden] leaves this debate PANICKED," and added, "There is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democrat Party." Abby Phillip observed, "The panic that I'm hearing from Democrats is not like anything I've heard in this campaign so far."
Related: CNN Host: Biden Knew ‘Every One of These Questions Was Coming’ and Still Blew the Debate
Scott Jennings was equally blunt, declaring that "[Biden's] candidacy has fallen," while Erin Burnett questioned if Biden "knows how bad this was?" Van Jones concluded, "That was not what we needed from Joe Biden."
Even MSNBC was equally critical of Biden's performance. Joy Reid observed that the "universal reaction [from Democrats] was somewhere approaching panic." Nicolle Wallace echoed the sentiment, asking, "What was wrong with [Biden]?"
Over at CBS, Norah O'Donnell bluntly questioned, "What's wrong with [Biden]?" Ed O'Keefe pointed out that Biden's age is a "significant problem" that the debate made worse. ABC's Mary Bruce summed up the night, stating, "There is no question — this is NOT the night that the Biden campaign wanted or needed."
The chorus of discontent continued. Even former Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield admitted it was "a really disappointing debate performance."
These responses are scandalous. Why? Because everyone in the liberal media has seen the Joe Biden we saw Thursday night repeatedly. In the past couple of weeks alone, there have been several senior moments that have gone viral on social media, and the White House dismissed these incidents as "cheap fakes." For months, we've been hearing from Biden administration officials insisting that Joe Biden is sharp, vibrant, and in charge behind closed doors. Earlier this month, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough insisted that everyone he's spoken to thinks Biden is perfectly cogent.
Everyone who has spoken about Joe Biden's physical and mental fitness over the past few months — and indeed the past few years — has been lying. They've known that Joe Biden is cognitively impaired. They just thought they could cover it up. This was a scandalous collusion between elected Democrats, party leaders, and the media. They all knew. Clips of Biden's senior moments have been going viral throughout his presidency, and they were all telling us not to believe what we could see with our own eyes.
