On Monday, Old Joe Biden laid to rest all the nagging rumors about his health and gave definitive proof that he is still with us. Didn’t he? He called into a Kamala Harris rally, explained that dropping out of the race was the right thing to do, and gave his wholehearted endorsement to the Democrats’ shiny new presidential candidate, about whom everyone in the world is excited for the moment until they remember who she is.
It was a grand moment, exploding a thousand conspiracy theories about what was really going on with Old Joe, except for one little detail: Harris made a telling little verbal slip that suggested that the Biden voice was not live but was a recording. Oh, surely not! The Democrats, that most above-board and honest of criminal gangs, wouldn’t dream of lying to us, would they?
Biden said to Julie Chavez Rodríguez, his former campaign manager, who is now on Harris’ team, “Julie, if I didn’t have COVID, I’d be standing there with you.” All right, but viruses tend to lessen in virulence over time; COVID has been pretty much a common cold for quite some time now. What a coincidence that Old Joe got the first severe case of COVID in several years!
He continued, “I want people to remember that what we have done has been incredible, and we get so much more we’re gonna get done.” That’s right: “We get so much more we’re gonna get done.” If this was AI or some other kind of faked audio, it was deft of the fabricators to include a bit of Biden’s characteristically mangled syntax. On the other hand, every forger knows to give his work minor touches that bespeak verisimilitude.
Biden or whoever plowed on: “And so I wanna say hello to Kamala, if she can hear me, I know she’s gonna be speaking shortly, and I wanna j— to say to the team: Embrace her. She’s the best.” At this, the audience listening to the audio erupted in cheers, but Old Joe, a man whose public speaking experience spans six decades, did not pause to allow the applause to die down.
Instead, barely stopping long enough to take a breath, Biden continued, “I wanna call today to thank everybody. Everybody in this effort. I know yesterday’s news was surprising and, uh, it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do. It’s uh, I— I know it’s hard because you poured your heart and soul into me, to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination, and then go on to win the, win the presidency.” Well, that would have been a first.
Biden then waxed sentimental. “But, you know, you’re an amazing team, but, but, I think we made the right decision. I know how hard you worked, how many sacrifices you’ve made, there’s so many of you, so many of you uprooted your lives for me, in the kind of commitment few people make for anything these days, but you made it. And I’ve been honored and humbled. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, my word as a Biden [!], that, for all you’ve done for me and my family.”
This was so moving that Rodríguez, who watched uncomfortably all through this soliloquy, took out her phone and busied herself with more interesting things.
“Joe, I know you’re still on the rec— call.”
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 22, 2024
Kamala is covering up the biggest scandal in a generation IN REAL TIME.
WHERE IS BIDEN? https://t.co/DTAWRBZA39
The Harris rally got interesting, however, when Kamala herself took center stage and addressed the unseen speaker. “It is so good to hear our president’s voice,” she cooed with unctuous insincerity and continued, “Joe, I know you’re still on the rec— on the call.”
On the what? Did Harris almost say she was on the recording? She recovered quickly and bantered with the voice a bit about how much they loved each other, but with that one slip, she undid any impression that this phone call proved that Biden was alive and in possession of his faculties. He may be, but the fact remains, as of this writing, unproven.
It isn’t hard. Years ago, a popular and busy radio host had me record interviews with his producer hours before his show went live. Then the host would come in and be recorded asking the questions, the producer would put the tapes together, and that evening was broadcast a “live” interview. Was the Biden phone call scripted? Did Biden really record it at all? These are no longer questions that the political and media elites should be allowed to ignore.
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