Well, the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign season is officially over, and pretty much all anyone can talk about in the aftermath of it is how President Joe Biden looked and sounded, which - incredibly - was even worse than he normally looks and sounds on any given day.
On Friday, we wrote about the warning NBC News/MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan gave about how Biden "absolutely cannot have a senior moment at this debate" because focus group Democrats she'd talked to in states like Michigan and Wisconsin had stressed that they had serious concerns about Biden's age and fitness to lead.
It was, she correctly pointed out, "an albatross that is hanging around this candidate and campaign."
Suffice it to say that it's an even heavier albatross around Biden's neck after the Thursday debate, which Biden had to be thankful only lasted an hour and a half.
But it was something that happened just after the debate concluded that's gotten people talking, and it involves Biden's handler-in-chief, Jill Biden.
Because there was no studio audience, we didn't get any shots while the debate was going on of any family members, friends, or others who were there in support of the candidates. But as soon the debate was over and as soon as she got the opportunity, the First Lady - who is often seen pushing the purported leader of the free world and directing him on where he needs to go, rushed onto the stage.
Video clips show her briefly hugging him and then immediately trying to guide a frozen-looking Joe Biden away from the podium and toward two steps. She grabs either his hand or arm, and they move forward, with Biden shuffling slowly, eventually gingerly stepping down.
Watch:
OMFG
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 28, 2024
Jill Biden had to lead Joe Biden off the debate stage. pic.twitter.com/lgzC9ZSt4K
The zoomed-in version actually shows another person, presumably another handler or perhaps a CNN staffer, walking up to Biden and appearing to offer additional assistance:
🚨Zoomed in video of Jill Biden leading Joe off the debate stage.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 28, 2024
This is insane. pic.twitter.com/QJhkfetdWz
In this clip, we see her guiding him towards the debate moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash:
Jill Biden has to help Biden walk down two stairs right after the debate ends pic.twitter.com/4znfycqZgf
— MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) June 28, 2024
I mean if these clips don't put a finer point on how awful Joe Biden looked and sounded on that stage as he and Trump debated each other, I don't know what does.
There's no other way to spin it: This debate was a disaster for Biden. An absolute disaster. Even if he'd had any zingers or home run moments (he didn't) they would have been overshadowed by him walking out on that stage looking lost and out of it and basically confirming everything his critics - including Donald Trump - have said about him.
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