First, let's revisit the origin of "Dark Brandon."
As my colleague Bob Hoge reported in early July, the Dark Brandon meme started on the internet early in the Biden administration, with Joe trying to leverage it as a means of touting his "accomplishments" in office. I am unfamiliar with those accomplishments.
While Biden was talking with a small group of Democrat voters on July 7, this exchange happened:
Voter: We need Dark Brandon back
President Biden: I'll tell you what ... Dark Brandon is coming back.
Voters: *burst into applause*
Thing is, while Joe might envision his "Dark Brandon" self as some kind of superhero, history has shown us he's been more like the guy on the right below.
Dark Brandon? pic.twitter.com/lE0bfw9Jq4
— The Hawkington Post (@Paulhawkington) July 7, 2024
While the above exchange happened before Biden's sudden exit from the race on Sunday, the salient question is whether he will attempt to revive Dark Brandon during the final six months of his presidency — assuming he remains in office until Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.
And as I suggested in the headline, given that Biden has dropped out of the race and has nothing to lose with respect to voters, might he be tempted to push forward with executive orders that he might not have issued if he had to contend with winning reelection? My gut tells me he would, in part because I believe he's simply done the bidding of his left-wing handlers from his first day in office.
And might those handlers want to get what they can get while they can still get it — particularly if they fear a second Donald Trump presidency? Of course.
As The New York Post put it, "Joe Biden is now liberated to do exactly what he wants without fear of reprisal for the first time in what has been a half-century political career full of triangulation and calculation," adding:
In short, there’s a realistic chance that if the president doesn’t step down and isn’t driven out — via a 25th Amendment scenario as Republicans from JD Vance on down would like — it’s entirely possible his term’s last few months could include some of the most radical moves any chief executive would make.
And given that Joe "Barney Fife" Biden has been a legend in his own mind throughout his entire life in politics, it's completely reasonable to assume he wants to go out big — go out strong — and therein lies the problem. For example:
The Biden Border Crisis
2020 presidential candidate Biden all but promised to station welcoming mariachi bands along the U.S.-Mexico border throughout his basement campaign to welcome illegals into this country. As a result, somewhere between nine and 13 million illegals have gladly accepted his invitation.
As Biden's approval ratings continued to swirl down the toilet, he first insisted he needed congressional legislation to stop this intentional never-ending flow of illegals, only to later issue an executive order, which he and Democrat lawmakers lauded as a border "fix."
Just one problem. Joe's EO turned out to be a sham.
Nothing changed at the border, but the order did give serial-lying Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas the authority to "legally" allow even more illegals into this country, at his discretion, based on several "benchmark measures."
And now that Joe has nothing to fear after ending his campaign, might he resume pursuing the Democrats' ultimate goal of permanently changing the demographics of America? Yeah.
Student Loan 'Forgiveness'
Despite multiple repudiations by the courts, including the Supreme Court in June 2023 ruling that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in 2022 when it announced that it would cancel up to $400 billion in student loans, Biden's defiance has continued.
Another Blow to Joe: Appeals Court Blocks Biden Student Loan Plan
To date, the Biden-Harris administration has "forgiven" $167 billion of contractual debt for 4.75 million borrowers — transferred to U.S. taxpayers, that is. Is it reasonable to assume that Biden might now attempt to transfer even more? As much as he can get away with? Yes, it is.
Israel vs. Ukraine
Might Biden be tempted to throw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the bus even further than he already has, as the Jewish state continues to prosecute its war against Islamist terrorist group Hamas?
Is it also reasonable to assume that Biden will continue to write virtually blank checks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the never-ending Russia-Ukraine war continues, or even to directly involve American military personnel in-country?
These are hard questions, but they deserve honest answers.
Finally, the Hunter Biden Thing
Via The Post:
And of course there is the case of Hunter Biden, a key White House adviser of late who was recently convicted of three felonies in a federal gun trial.
Republicans aren’t the only ones who can talk about “lawfare,” and Biden — despite pledging he wouldn’t pardon his son — has nothing to stop him from breaking that vow.
The GOP can carp about hypocrisy, but Democrats won’t be listening, and swing voters who have been anxious to move on from Trump-Biden 2.0 likely won’t care much either.
That last line nailed it.
Republican lawmakers can "carp" about anything Biden might do before he vacates the Oval Office, but to paraphrase an old infamous Hillary Clinton quote, what difference would it make? Neither the Republican Party nor America's voters have any leverage over what Biden might do between today and January 20. And that is frightening.
The Bottom Line
Semi-vacant Joe Biden, managed by left-wing handlers, his power-crazed wife, and whomever else, cares zero about carping Republicans. Moreover, if semi-vacant Joe Biden is too semi-vacant to run for reelection, why isn't he too semi-vacant to remain in office? Semi-vacant Joe Biden needs to be gone — yesterday.
