After the first presidential debate on June 27, 2024, the media did something no one suspected: they began running headlines questioning President Biden’s mental capacity. CNN named its first analysis, titled “Biden’s disastrous debate pitches his reelection bid into crisis.” The author claimed that “objectively, Biden produced the weakest performance since John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon started the tradition of televised debates in 1960.”
In the same analysis, the author claimed that “there has been no public sign that Biden is unable to perform the duties of the presidency.” While anyone can watch Biden speak over the last four years to know this is untrue, a special counsel’s report in February 2024 on the President’s handling of classified material claimed Biden is mentally unfit to stand trial, stating:
“The report described the 81-year-old Democrat’s memory as ‘hazy,’ ‘fuzzy,’ ‘faulty,’ ‘poor’ and having ‘significant limitations.’ It noted that Biden could not recall defining milestones in his own life such as when his son Beau died or when he served as vice president.”
CNN defended the president against these allegations, claiming that “special council reports often paint unflattering pictures of presidents.” Now that the media has changed its tone, many major news outlets, organizations, and wealthy donors have brought Biden’s mental capability into question as if it were a new phenomenon.
The New York Times has claimed that Biden’s lapses are becoming increasingly common; the BBC called Biden’s debate “incoherent.” Some Democrats in Congress are now calling for Biden to drop out of the race, with Forbes naming four congressmen and wealthy donors such as George Clooney.
These calls of resignation come against the man who they once called the most popular president in history, being the first to win 80 million votes, winning exactly 81,283,098 votes, supposedly. What the media is currently doing in its attacks is doing something it mastered long ago: perception management. To understand how the government and media use this technique against Biden, we can look at how they used it against the President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi.
From Villain, to Hero, to Villain
In April of 1986, President Reagan made a statement condemning Gaddafi and calling him the “mad dog of the Middle East.” This was after a disco in West Berlin was bombed by suspected Libyan agents, and after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Libya became the lone state in the world put under crushing western sanctions that broke its economy. But after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, western governments became incredibly friendly with Gaddafi.
Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Gadhafi in 2004, and Blair stated, “Libya’s voluntary and open implementation of that decision [to dismantle WMD] gives us real hope that we can build a new relationship with it, one for the modern world.” Gadhafi joined the league of civilized nations by speaking at the 69th UN general assembly in 2009 for the first time.
To the world and to the American people, the once raving mad dog of the Middle East, was now a staunch defender of democracy, a man whose interviewers said had “softened and now more capable of living in peace with the western world.” But during the Arab Spring in 2011, when Gaddafi faced rebellion in his country, America turned its back on Gaddafi and began helping the rebels. The CATO Institute stated just whose fault it was for the collapse of Libya:
“Libya’s ongoing destruction belongs to Hillary Clinton more than anyone else. It was she who pushed President Barack Obama to launch his splendid little war, backing the overthrow of Moammar Gaddafi in the name of protecting Libya’s civilians. When later asked about Gaddafi’s death, she cackled and exclaimed: ‘We came, we saw, he died’.”
Three times, the American perception of Gaddafi changed, all because the regimes in the western world wanted it too. From mad dog in the 1980s to champion of democracy in the 2000s, and finally as a brutal dictator whose people were rebelling, what they did to Gaddafi can easily be done to anyone, even a sitting president.
Conclusion
With the 2024 election only months away, Biden’s fate remains to be seen, but he has already stated that only the “Lord Almighty” can convince him to quit the race. It’s possible that between the media attacks on Biden and the Democratic Party splitting over a Biden candidacy, the establishment is aiming for a Trump presidency. Since the 2020 elections, Trump has only become more popular, and the SCOTUS has ruled against states removing Trump from the ballot for insurrection.
After all, if Trump wins, he will only serve four years in accordance with the 22nd Amendment, and after that, he’ll be gone for good. Also, with the military in a recruiting crisis, Trump may be just what they need to encourage young Americans to join up. One thing is for certain: since the first debate, it is now obvious that the president isn’t really the one in charge.
