As my colleague Nick Arama reported earlier, President Biden announced today during a formal White House event that he was naming Vice President Harris to manage the escalating border crisis.
Biden did not look well during the announcement, as Nick noted, and at times appeared to be very tired as though he just wanted to get through the meeting quickly. He also proclaimed that Harris speaks for him and would not have to check in with him when making decisions on how to handle the deteriorating conditions at the southern border. A very odd statement considering he’s the President of the United States, not Harris, and the buck on these matters is supposed to stop with him.
But it was what happened when Biden concluded his remarks that especially got people talking. In the video below, as Biden was wrapping up he seemed to be confused and unsure of what was going on. He turned to his chief of staff Ron Klain, who was off-camera, and asked “Ron, who am I turning this thing over to?”
Klain took charge of the proceedings at that point by telling the assembled members of the White House press corps that it was time for them to leave the room.
Watch everything unfold below, as Klain takes over and signals for reporters to leave the room. Naturally, reporters were there to do a job and started calling out questions – which, as per the norm, were not answered. It was an all-too-familiar scene where Biden’s handlers aggressively barked at the press and herded them away from the President like cattle:
.@JoeBiden: "Ron, who am I turning this over to?"
Staffer: "Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. I think it's time for our friends in the press to leave." pic.twitter.com/o9zATqau5r
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 24, 2021
When one sees events like the above take place with this administration – and they happen quite often, as we’ve previously documented, the rampant speculation about just who might really be running the show at the White House is completely understandable and the discussion about it is definitely warranted.
Is it Harris? Klain? White House press secretary Jen Psaki? Inquiring minds want to know.
Biden will be holding his first – the very first – formal solo press conference of his presidency tomorrow, over two months after his presidential inauguration. The bar has now been set so low for him that if he manages to make it through without mistakenly referring to Kamala Harris as “my lovely wife Jill Biden” it’ll be considered a smashing success.
That the leader of the free world essentially had to be shamed into doing a formal press conference two months into his time in the Oval Office is, quite frankly, terrifying. But when you see how things got progressively worse right before our eyes earlier today as Biden made the announcement about Kamala Harris, it begins to make more sense as to why they’re keeping him on leash in carefully controlled settings.
This is just not a good look at all, and the more it happens the worse it looks. World leaders seem to be taking notice, too, which makes all of this even more concerning.
Joe Biden does not just look unwell, he doesn’t appear to actually be well, either. Are questions about his wellness something anyone in the White House press corps would dare to ask at this point? Because the American people deserve to know.
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