NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Biden’s Wilson Problem
You might have heard from Dr. Jill Biden over the weekend — I did.
She said, “Joe is 81, that’s true, but he’s 81 doing more in an hour than most people do in a day. Joe has wisdom, empathy, and vision. He has delivered on so many of his promises as President precisely because he’s learned a lot in those 81 years. His age, with his experience and expertise, is an incredible asset and he proves it every day.”
Well, to be more precise — she didn’t write to me. The campaign sent out a mass email “from her,” and I am on the email list.
At first blush, it seems like a good idea: the first lady vouching for the president’s mental acuity at a time when 86% of Americans think he’s too old to serve another term.
- Thought bubble : To paraphrase a line from Aaron Sorkin’s film “The American President,” you don’t win elections by telling 86% of Americans they are wrong.
In reality, Jill Biden only makes the problem worse.
Thursday night showed President Biden can’t fix the age and mental fitness problem:
- He can’t hold multiple, wide-ranging press conferences where he seems calm, controlled and without mistakes, such as confusing the presidents of Mexico and Egypt.
- He can’t offer a few network anchors meaningful interviews to discuss the state of the world and his administration without preconditions.
- He can’t hold a few weekend rallies in swing states.
True love: Your wife vouching for your health doesn’t fix it and just focuses the attention on you.
- Namely, comparisons will arise between Jill Biden and Nancy Reagan or worse Jill Biden and Edith Wilson.
- That’s not good for Joe Biden or Jill Biden. Once the shadow president stories start, they can’t be stopped.
Over the weekend, the Left finally acknowledged Biden’s age, and the reaction ranged from the sublime:
- Maureen Dowd, who wrote in the New York Times: “Biden is not just in a bubble — he’s in bubble wrap. Cosseting and closeting Uncle Joe all the way to the end — eschewing town halls and the Super Bowl interview — are just not going to work. Going on defense, when Trump is on offense, is not going to work. Counting on Trump’s vileness to secure the win, as Hillary did, is not going to work.”
To the ridiculous:
- Professor Bill McKibben, who wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “Joe Biden is old. Like each of us, he comes from a particular place in history, in his case the LBJ years. And that’s one big reason why his first term has been so full of accomplishment: His age, often cited as the greatest obstacle to his reelection, is actually his superpower.”
But for the first time, the Left is talking about the problem in real terms.
Jon Michael Raasch (@JMRaasch) reports in the Daily Mail that Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is questioning Biden’s mental fitness.
- Again, and we can not stress this enough, the problems created by Biden’s senior moments and resulting questions about them will only get worse because there is NOTHING the White House or even Jill Biden can do to fix it.
Watch tonight: Bill O’Reilly will discuss the similarities between Jill Biden and Nancy Reagan.
Final thought: Democrats supporting Biden say both Trump’s election could end the republic and that Biden is the best person to save democracy.
- Both of those can’t be true.
Part of Democrats’ problem: Vice President Kamala Harris telling the Wall Street Journal she is “ready to serve,” as reported by Tarini Parti (@tparti).
- Given Biden’s age, Democrats should worry about the Sarah Palin effect on Biden’s electability.
Trump Goes Full Trump
Short of nuclear war, the only thing that could save Biden from the worst news cycle of his presidency was Donald Trump saying something so inflammatory the media would collectively stop covering Biden’s age and cover Trump instead.
- Trump did not disappoint — instead of one thing, he said two:
- 1. From CNN: “Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would encourage Russia to do ‘whatever the hell they want’ to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense in a stunning admission he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of the alliance if reelected.”
- 2. He questioned why Nikki Haley’s husband isn’t on the campaign trail with her.
- It is unthinkable he didn’t know Michael Haley is serving in the army overseas.
Trump knows the media better than anyone, and he’s also unable to stay out of the spotlight. The constant coverage of Biden, even awful Biden coverage, had to be replaced with him, even if it meant bad coverage for himself.
- End result: The media rightfully started covering the absurd statements and moved on from coverage of Biden’s age.
Where is the Arab World?
The Israeli rescue of two hostages over the weekend in Gaza only emboldened the IDF and Netanyahu’s government to continue their counteroffensive and push into Rafah on the Egyptian-Gaza border.
- The United Kingdom especially, but the United States as well, continues to push the rhetoric that protecting Gazan civilians is the Israelis’ responsibility.
- Today, Biden hosted the Jordanian king. Missing from him and the rest of the Arab world are demands that Hamas surrender, give back the hostages and thus spare all the civilians of Gaza.
Read more: My good buddy Dan Perry offers a deep dive on the Arab world logic.
Watch tonight: A former director of global engagement in the Obama White House will talk about why even Biden spends so much time holding Israel responsible for civilians in Gaza and almost no time talking about Hamas.
The Swift Proposal
No, you didn’t miss a marriage proposal to Taylor Swift last night, but you might have missed a proposal from Democratic strategist and country music consultant Kurt Bardella:
- In the Los Angeles Times, Bardella writes, “Imagine if Swift announced even a handful of relatively modest acoustic concerts in the swing states (Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin) where the price of admission was proof that you were registered to vote. Voter registration booths would be set up in front of the venue. The only problem would be dealing with the crowds.”
- This echoes a few segments we did last year about Swift’s incredible influence among women between 18 and 35. Her real power is in turning those likely voters out to vote, not telling them who to vote for.
Watch tonight: Bardella will explain why he proposed voter registration as a ticket price rather than, say, proof you voted early.
RFK Apologizes — For What?
Today, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized for a brilliant ad run by a super PAC supporting him during the Super Bowl.
The super PAC remade a 1960 John F. Kennedy ad. You can watch the new ad here.
Kennedy posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “I’m so sorry if the Super Bowl advertisement caused anyone in my family pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Super PAC without any involvement or approval from my campaign.”
- Thought bubble: Clearly, he’s not that sorry because the ad is pinned to the top of his X profile.
Watch tonight: The leader of the super PAC, American Values 2024, joins us with their side of the story.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.