QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED: Why Wasn’t ‘Scranton Joe’ at the Harris-Walz Launch Rally?
Democrats packed into Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia for the new Democratic ticket’s first rally. Earlier that morning, news broke that Vice President Kamala Harris had picked Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The choice simultaneously carried undertones of 2008, when the younger Barack Obama chose an older, white, generic politician in Senator Joe Biden, and 2016, when Hillary Clinton picked the low-name-ID Senator Tim Kaine to appear moderate. Notably absent from this rally, however, was the now-President Joe Biden, known for playing up his Pennsylvania roots.
Why wasn’t Joe there? Because it very likely wasn’t his decision to voluntarily pass the baton, and because of intense fears there would be a moment like this, as Jim Treacher writes:
CBS “journalist”: Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power, January 2025?
Joe: If Trump wins, no, I’m not confident at all. [EXCRUCIATING PAUSE AS HE REALIZES WHAT HE JUST SAID IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WORLD] I mean, if Trump loses, I’m not confident at all.
Oh. Whew!
Good thing he remembered the difference between “win” and “lose.” A lot of people get those two things mixed up, right?
His initial thought was: “If Trump wins, we riot.” Which is what happened in 2016. But then he realized he’s not supposed to say that out loud.
It’s especially galling, given the past four years of outright lies about Biden’s senility. If he hadn’t botched that debate so badly, all these “journalists” and their fellow Democrats would still be lying to you.
“He’s as sharp as ever, we can barely keep up with him,” etc.
It’s 89 days until the election, and they just need to keep the old man breathing. And keep Kamala and her new running mate away from pesky reporters.
Can Kamala & Co. run out the clock by staying silent? Possibly, given that anything Trump says in a press conference will be dissected for auras and penumbras of partying like it’s 1939: Daily Show Claims Trump Is Invoking Themes From Mein Kampf.