While presidential candidates are trying to create the expectations for their rivals prior to the debates, Donald Trump has largely done the opposite and told the public that President Joe Biden “can’t put two sentences together” and is “the WORST debater” the former president has ever seen.
Complicating matters is the fact that the Republican and his allies have spread similar messages throughout Biden’s term, eagerly trying to convince the electorate that the Democratic incumbent is on the verge of a coma. For example, in May 2022, Senator Rick Scott stated, “Let’s face it: Joe Biden is unwell.” The right-wing Floridian said at the time: “He is unfit for office. He is incoherent, incapacitated and confused. Half the time he doesn’t know where he is.’
The problem for Republicans is not just that such rhetoric is ugly and offensive. Moreover, the problem is not just that the attacks are misguided and contradicted by officials – from both parties – who have had contact with the sitting president. The most politically salient problem is that the Republican Party has lowered expectations for Biden so low that he will likely pleasantly surprise viewers in tonight’s debate if the Democrat manages to stay awake throughout the event.
With this in mind, some Republicans have decided in recent days to go in the opposite direction, arguing that the president may not be in such bad shape after all.
Take the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, For example. Media Affairs noted:
Hmm.
When then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched a debt ceiling crisis last year, the California Republican offered to bring “soft food” to the White House, suggesting Biden was too old to eat anything else.
However, Politico reported that McCarthy made very different comments privately, “telling allies that he found the president sharp and substantive in their conversations.”
Earlier this month, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives was nevertheless a key source for The Wall Street Journal for a report on Biden that showed “signs of backsliding.”
Last night on Fox News, McCarthy again went in the opposite direction, discussing instances where he was impressed by the sitting president’s acumen.
Taking a step back, it appears that McCarthy — who is eyeing a job with Trump’s team in a possible second term — will apparently say Biden is sharp or falling apart, depending on what’s going on at the moment the interests of the former speaker.
But McCarthy’s contradictions are also emblematic of a larger truth: As the president and his immediate predecessor prepare to share a stage, Biden’s Republican opponents are struggling mightily to keep their stories honest.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
