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President Joe Biden’s press conference performance on Thursday evening received praise from an unexpected source: Donald Trump Jr, the son of the person Biden beat in 2020.
On the surface, this may seem a bit peculiar. Don Jr speaks the language of MAGA more fluently even than his father and Biden flubbed early in his “big boy” press conference by calling Kamala Harris “vice president Trump”. He also introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at a separate NATO event a few hours earlier.
All this should give someone like Don Jr a clear hit. MAGA rarely pulls its punches. But anyone with a cursory history of politics will see this was a classic example of what Watergate operative Donald Segretti, a member of the Committee to Re-elect the President (called CREEP for short), would call “ratf**king” — the art of dirty trickery, scheming and political jiu-jitsu intended to undermine political opponents.
Biden has consistently polled below Trump ever since he announced his re-election campaign. And after Biden’s lackluster debate performance, Republicans see him as even weaker and more likely to lose to Trump. So there is an incentive to praise Biden and give people a reason for him to stay in the race, rather than risk someone more popular taking over.
This comes ahead of the Republican National Committee, the latest installment of the Trump show, making its way to Milwaukee next week. Republicans want to make the spectacle all about Trump and his would-be running mate. Having Biden drop out during that time would dampen the vibe during Trump’s coronation.
And Republicans are not the only ones who are learning the lessons from Watergate. On August 7, 1974, a band of Republican members of Congress, including Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican nominee, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott and House Minority Leader John Rhodes gave Richard Nixon the hard truth that “the situation is very gloomy on Capitol Hill.” That proved to be enough to convince him to go, and Nixon announced his resignation the next day.
Many years later, Nixon told his former aide Pat Buchanan, by then a host on CNN, that “a vice president, a member of the cabinet, a member of Congress who is a member of the president's party should always consider that he is dispensable and should do what The Man [i.e. the president] wants to carry out the policy.”
The architect of the imperial presidency said members of the president’s party needed to do so “because otherwise The Man's gotta get down there in the ring.”
The problem with other members of the president’s party getting down in the ring is that it means they often have to absorb body blows meant for the boss. Members of Congress likely heard angry words from their constituents about the president’s performance during Fourth of July parades, cookouts and sporting events — the kinds of places that the president doesn’t get to go himself for security reasons.
That might be why House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took it upon himself to meet with Biden on Thursday, the same day as Biden’s presser. A letter that Jeffries released after the meeting was seen by some as affirming his support. But really, it seemed to be raising concerns.
“In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together,” Jeffries wrote. While the line is not explicitly telling Biden to step aside, it also does not downplay the legitimate skepticism some Democrats have about Biden running again. Indeed, after Biden’s presser on Thursday night — which proceeded without too much incident — more Democrats said Biden needed to step aside. The president had clearly not managed to quite stem the bleeding.
Biden was two years into being a senator when Nixon announced his resignation and at age 31, was not even old enough to run for president himself at the time. His experience has guided him through a long trek in American politics.
Now, as Trumpworld delights in the idea of him staying in, he should consider what happened around the beginning of his tenure in order to navigate the next steps.
