Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker: 'It's Just My Brain'

Welcome to Day Three of my Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker. Today's good news is that Presidentish Biden's physical health couldn't be better. "It's just my brain," he assured a group of Democratic governors on Wednesday, four of whom immediately slit their own throats.

I'm kidding about the insta-seppuku. I'm not kidding about what Biden said about his brain.

The New York Times reported Thursday on the semi-in-person/semi-virtual meeting between the Alleged Most Powerful Man in the World™ and members of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) — a meeting that was demanded earlier this week by worried Democrat governors following Biden's debate debacle.

According to various attendees who spoke to the paper, Biden admitted to the governors that he'd asked his staff for less work and more sleep but insisted that, after having been seen by a physician, his health is fine, “It’s just my brain” that isn't up to the job of being president.

Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon later told the NYT that Biden "was clearly making a joke," but who can even tell anymore? Biden's "joke" was made public the same day Olivia Nuzzi published a devasting piece for Intelligencer headlined "The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden."

Those who encountered the president in social settings sometimes left their interactions disturbed. Longtime friends of the Biden family, who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity, were shocked to find that the president did not remember their names. At a White House event last year, a guest recalled, with horror, realizing that the president would not be able to stay for the reception because, it was clear, he would not be able to make it through the reception. The guest wasn’t sure they could vote for Biden, since the guest was now open to an idea that they had previously dismissed as right-wing propaganda: The president may not really be the acting president after all.

Also on Thursday, the New York Post reported on the Biden family's own Rasputin, top Jill Biden aide Anthony Bernal. Another top Dem aide told the Post, "The country would be better off with Trump,” with Bernal helping run the government.

Previously: Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker: That Narrative Isn't Going to Change Itself, Joe

Most governors tried to put a happy face on Wednesday's meeting, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul "claimed the support was unanimous," Ed Morrissey reported. "However, a few of them warned Biden that he couldn't win."

So much for unanimity. But what's the best that can be expected when the president says his brain is a problem? The way the NYT put it is that Biden's talk "chilled any talk of his withdrawal," and you have to wonder how long the editors fussed over using the word "chilled."

There seems to be some confusion over whether or not Biden was seen by his doctor this week. Biden told the DGA he had, but White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre twice told reporters that he hadn't. 

In Thursday's Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker [VIP link] I wondered whether Biden's scheduled interview with Dem party hack/ABC News host George Stephanopoulos would help, but even that's getting weird.

Previously: Biden Campaign Collapse Tracker: Capitol Hill Blues

The interview — taped and edited, not live — was originally supposed to be recorded during the day on Friday in Wisconsin, teased on the Friday night news, and aired on Sunday. But something has changed and now it will air on Friday evening.

Is there anything more Friday news dumped than prime time on Friday, the 5th of July? https://t.co/02cdThTxpe

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 4, 2024

Are they now expecting the thing to be such a wreck that they have to bury it on the Friday night of a four-day weekend? Or is Biden looking good, expected to overperform, and ABC wants to get it aired ASAP to counter the Feeble Old Man narrative?

I guess we'll find out tonight.