Eight days after his debate flop against Donald Trump, President Biden performed better in a 22-minute ABC interview. But there was nowhere to go but up, and the 81-year-old Biden still has not made the case that his age will not be a hindrance to a second term in office.
Even worse, there were signals during the interview that Biden believes he is the only person who is up to the task of being president.
You may recall that in Trump’s acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican convention, he said, “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”
It was a remarkable example of Trump’s self-confidence that had long before tilted over to arrogance; a belief that nothing he said, did or thought was wrong. This attitude repeatedly hamstrung his four years in office.
Last Friday night, Biden showed flashes of a similar mindset.
“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” he said.
When interviewer George Stephanopoulos asked if he was running for personal interest, the same as Trump’s critics say about the former president, Biden said anyone who compares him to Trump is wrong.
“Have you convinced yourself that only you can defeat him?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I’ve convinced myself of two things,” Biden replied. “I’m the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done.”
A few minutes later, the president said, “Who’s going to be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s going to be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific Basin where we’re at least checkmating China right now? Who’s going to do that? Who has that reach?”
That sounds way too much like, “I alone can fix it,” and that is a risky path for Biden to chart.
Certainly, experience and personal relationships can help any president during challenging times. But the idea that Biden is the only person capable of using these qualities to advance American interests is ridiculous. There are several future presidents alive today who will match or exceed Biden’s efforts. To think otherwise is to say we’re on a sinking ship.
The interview also produced evidence that the president is in denial about his political challenges.
First he said he was certain that Democratic congressional leaders are not going to ask him to withdraw from the race out of fear the party will lose its chance to capture the House and hold on to the Senate.
Told by Stephanopoulos that some Democrats would applaud him if he decided to “go with grace,” Biden said the vast majority do not feel that way. We’ll know in the next couple of weeks if he’s reading his party properly.
Finally, when Stephanopoulos said that no president with a 36% approval rating has ever been re-elected, Biden said, “I don’t believe that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show.”
The interview made it clear that right now. Biden is all in for a second term. Asked about stepping away, Biden told Stephanopoulos, “If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.”
It was a clever dodge, since even the Bible has relatively few instances in which God speaks directly to his people. But God does speak to us in other ways, and it could be that Biden’s difficulty in that first debate was itself the message — no matter what the excuses were for his poor night.
Perhaps, then, the Lord Almighty already has sent Biden guidance about what to do. Sadly, the president chooses not to listen.
