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“Truth over lies.”
Five years ago, Joe Biden put that slogan at the center of his presidential campaign. The truth was an easy crutch to lean on when running against Donald Trump, the clown prince of politics himself. But after winning in 2020, the Democrats continued to behave as if they owned the truth. The combination of the terrible news of the former president’s advanced cancer diagnosis along with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s exposé on the coverup of Biden’s decline after months of gaslighting should shatter any supposed Democratic monopoly on the truth once and for all.
Any political party that claims a monopoly on the truth isn’t a political party at all; it’s a secular religion. And any politician who does so is doing their best to usurp God. Trust me—I come from a country where party and leaders regularly played at both. Many Democratic operatives earnestly believed they were truth-tellers, but no one outside of the DNC echo chamber shares that assessment. The double-whammy of bad Biden news over the weekend was necessary to shock Democrats out of this unrealistic self-image. This is the moment Adam and Eve realize they’re naked. At the intersection of this political meltdown and personal tragedy, there’s a strategic opportunity to turn the tables on Trump.
That is, if anyone is willing to take it. The Democrats will have to cast out those who tried to deceive the public over the forty-sixth president’s deterioration.
It will require work, because there are those who still can’t read the writing on the retirement home wall. Trump’s lies are bigger, sure, but the lie the Democrats spun was so obvious. And yet one Democratic politico, Rachel Bitecofer, fired off this unhelpful tweet [ [link removed] ] ahead of the Tapper-Thompson book release:
MAGA is banking on exactly this response. Rather than go for whataboutism over President Reagan, who left office nearly forty years ago, imagine if top Democrats said the following:
We have not been honest with you. President Joe Biden’s personal health was compromised during his term in office. It’s a tragic reality that many of you recognized as it was unfolding. It was a challenge that we, as your elected officials, should have confronted head-on. We failed to do so. In the interest of fighting a dangerous demagogue, we claimed the mantle of the truth, and we failed to live up to that very basic standard. Asking your forgiveness now is inappropriate and insufficient—we recognize that we have lost many voters’ trust, and trust is something that is earned. So beyond combating Donald Trump’s authoritarian agenda, we are committing to restoring your confidence in us.
How might Democrats put some action behind these words? By doing what Trump and his cronies least expect: disowning Biden and the circle of loyalists directly responsible for hiding his condition. They should not be doling out advice or running election campaigns. And they certainly should not be running for office themselves—least of all the presidency. Nothing short of political exile will suffice.
Biden’s accomplices will only remind voters of an audacious coverup and an unpopular status quo. Americans will find no saviors among the disgraced cabinet officials who lied about Biden’s health. If any of these Biden dead-enders have the nerve to show up in the midterms or (God forbid) in 2028, other Democrats ought to remind them of the damage they did to their party, to the public trust, and to the country.
Trumpists won’t see this coming because distancing themselves from their dear leader is something they could never do. Biden’s cancer news makes this a bit trickier—no one wants to be seen as kicking a sick old man while he’s down—but the task remains important, not in spite of the ex-president’s diagnosis, but because of it.
Ultimately, this can be a positive exercise for the Democratic Party as an institution. It invites much-needed introspection among Democrats, something that would have been impossible so long as the party believed in its own moral infallibility. It reinforces the value of accountability—ideally a bipartisan principle, but one party is a start. It adds urgency to the task of elevating the next generation of American leaders after having two presidents born in the 1940s.
If you’re an American, how are you reacting to the Biden coverup?
If you are a Democrat or you voted for him, how do you feel?
And if you’re not a Democrat or you didn’t support Biden or Harris, were these factors part of your calculus?
I’m not a US citizen, so I look at this as a deeply invested observer. But you are all my eyes and ears, and I want to know how you see the next move playing out. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!
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