OPINION:
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After President Biden sat down over the weekend with “60 Minutes” for an interview — the piece was highly scripted and heavily edited to make Mr. Biden look like he still has some faculties left — former President Donald Trump gave his review of the softball interview.
“60 Minutes” ought to be “ashamed of themselves,” Mr. Trump said.
“They just interviewed Crooked Joe Biden, and led him along like a lost child,” Mr. Trump wrote Sunday night. “Each question contained the answer, and was so weakly and apologetically asked that it was a JOKE, which should be considered a campaign contribution to the Democrat Party.”
“They are protecting Biden even though he is the most corrupt and incompetent President in the history of the United States,” he added.
Mr. Biden rarely does interviews — he can hardly string a sentence together, which makes that a problem — but Sunday’s sit-down was his second with “60 Minutes’” Scott Pelley, who made some excuses before lobbing softball after softball over the plate.
“Late Thursday, we met President Biden at the White House. It had been a rough week, and we could see it on him. Mr. Biden will be 81 next month, and he has said that when he’s tired, his lifelong stutter can creep back in,” Mr. Pelley said.
Not knowing where you are, losing your train of thought constantly and falling down a lot aren’t stutters, but OK.
“As we spoke to the president, his secretary of state was in Israel; his defense secretary was at a NATO meeting on Ukraine,” Mr. Pelley said. “America’s oldest president seemed tired from directing all of this.”
Well, that’s the job — and no one made Mr. Biden take it. Frankly, 2020 was elder abuse. You’ve seen the before and after pictures of presidents: They go in looking strong and vibrant, and they come out with thinning white hair, wrinkled and exhausted.
Mr. Biden went in that way and has only gotten worse.
Old Joe would be 86 should he win in 2024 and somehow survive his entire second term. That doesn’t seem plausible. While I still think California Gov. Gavin Newsom is being set up to step in and run in Mr. Biden’s place for the Democratic nomination (Mr. Newsom has been tacking back to the middle like crazy the last few weeks), it’s worth pondering a Biden-Harris ticket next year.
So, say they get in, and say Mr. Biden dies (as guys do in their mid-80s). Then we’ve got President Kamala Harris.
Like her boss, she is not remotely up to the job. Mr. Biden knows it and says so to his closest allies. The vice presidency is a low-profile job — you do ceremonial stuff and attend funerals of foreign leaders. That doesn’t get you ready to be president.
But Ms. Harris has set the lowest bar ever. Right now, think: When’s the last time you heard her name? I cover politics for a living, and I can’t even remember. Ms. Harris is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president, but the Peter Principle has kicked in — that is, she has reached her level of incompetence — and she can go no further.
Some Democrats know that and are urging Mr. Biden to dump her, put someone else on the ticket. Of course, he can’t do that. Fire the first African American and first Asian American vice president?! How could he exploit identity politics then?
But Ms. Harris’ approval rating is terrible, hovering in the mid-30s. Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, was asked last month whether Ms. Harris was the best running mate for Mr. Biden, and he refused to explicitly say yes.
“So I have not seen any public opinion polling. You might be a stronger vice presidential running mate than her or me or anybody else,” Mr. Raskin told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I don’t know who else, if you’re talking about the polling. But I will tell you, as a matter of substance and public policy, she’d be an excellent choice.”
Yeah, sure. And the Democrats really have “don’t know who else”? If that’s true, the Democrats really are in trouble.
Here’s what’s going on in America right now: soaring inflation, unaffordable housing, escalating crime, rampant drug abuse and overdose deaths, a mental health epidemic, a student loan crisis, skyrocketing federal debt (it rises $1 million every 24 seconds), an absurdly expensive health care system, wealth inequality, a crumbling infrastructure, illegal immigrants storming across the border, unrestrained price gouging, mounting poverty and homelessness, school mass shootings, political polarization that is becoming violent.
Can Ms. Harris fix that? Mr. Biden can’t. Frankly, there aren’t many in the political game who can. But start with who can’t, and eliminate them.
Ms. Harris can’t.
So let’s find someone who can.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on X @josephcurl.
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