In the grotesque confrontation between Trump and Biden, it was clear that Biden was completely out of sync, unable to answer even the simplest questions, while Trump behaved like a brazen bully. The embarrassing spectacle raised serious questions about the state of American democracy, the actual leadership of the country, and the media’s denial of reality, as they continue to paint Biden as a competent leader. The reality, however, is that Biden appears increasingly confused and disoriented, and the West seems to be led by a puppet figure, manipulated by a hidden circle of powers.
* * *
The King is Senile
At a certain point during the appalling face-off the other night, it felt like if Trump had suddenly asked Biden “What’s your name?” the Leader of the Free World wouldn’t have known the answer. But throughout the 90 minutes of the derby between the frenzied rascal and the dazed rascal, other questions floated above the first’s blow-dried head and the second’s glued one. How did the Cradle of Democracy reduce itself to such an embarrassing choice? Who is truly steering the USA and the West towards a third world war? How long did American Democrats and international commentators think they could deny what the entire world has seen with their own eyes for years regarding the pitiful state of the “commander in chief”? Just a few days ago, Repubblica dismissed a necessary Wall Street Journal investigation into Biden’s mental health as a “Republican attack.” And Domani explained that the U.S. president is doing great, but Trump’s “low-cost tricks” and “fake news” aim to make him appear confused by manipulating shots and edits to convey a distorted idea. Of course, sure.
Then the other night, as in the tale of the naked king but without needing the child, the whole planet saw Senile Biden in his natural state: jumping from one topic to another, mumbling incomprehensible phrases (poor interpreters), inserting the price of insulin into answers about Ukraine and Korean chips into those about age, boasting of the disgraceful flight from Kabul as a triumph, repeatedly saying that Putin wants to invade Poland and then all of Europe, and so on. And not in front of a dialectical champion, but an odious and rough bully who throws migrants and veterans everywhere, randomly spouts figures, and lies with every breath. In comparison, the worst Italian politician looks like Churchill. Biden destroyed himself with pitiful scenes reminiscent of the sunset of another empire, the Soviet one, plastically embodied by Brezhnev’s mummified and frozen body raised on the Kremlin balcony to show he was still alive with mechanical arm movements. Yet, until the other day, anyone who dared to say that the West is in the hands of a senile man was an enemy of democracy and a servant of Trump, as well as Putin. And the enemies of Trumpian “post-truths” endorsed Biden’s to “not play into The Donald’s hands,” not realizing they were working for him. Because, four months before the vote, it’s hard to change horses midstream. And because the reputation of American “democracy,” fake-led by Senile Biden and truly directed by a clique of never-elected ghosts who make him say and do what they want, is irreparably compromised.
Il Fatto Quotidiano, June 29, 2024