My basic reaction to Joe Biden’s first formal press conference as president was that he did fine, came across as decent, coherent, reasonably progressive, and someone who knows his own mind and values. Anyone worried that Biden, the oldest ever new president, might be losing the mental acuity necessary for his job could reasonably be encouraged by his ability to coherently reply, with a high degree of factual accuracy, to a long list of questions. Biden didn’t make a whole lot of news but, unlike a certain unnamed immediate predecessor, he didn’t make a jerk of himself.
While that may sound like faint praise — given concerns about whether Biden, the oldest president ever at the time of assuming the office, is fully up to his demanding new job — I would call his performance calm, steady, reassuring and solidly liberal, even if he came across during the primary campaign as a moderate compared to some of those he defeated for the Democratic nomination.
Especially after Donald Trump, Biden yesterday seemed to personify that quality we sometimes call “presidential.” He maintained a dignity consistent with the office, and issued no cheap shots. Shortly after the broadcast, an old friend emailed me:
“I’ll take knowledgeable and sincere, if somewhat plodding, over glib, dishonest and cynical, any – and every – day of the week.”
In addition, there were many moments during the presser when Biden’s long experience seemed to make him comfortable and sure-footed about how to proceed based on this general rule which Biden announced:
“When I took office, I decided that it was a fairly basic, simple proposition: I got elected to solve problems,” he said.
Of course, views can differ across partisan and ideological lines about the correctness of some policies Biden plans to pursue to solve problems, but it was clear that he can talk accurately and coherently about the problems and the range of solutions in way that Trump never could.
Since he’s president, everything he said was sorta newsworthy. He made few staggering breakthroughs news-wise, although he did call the various measures in Republican-controlled states to make it harder, especially for black voters, to vote “un-American” and “sick.”
He specified: “Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote? Deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work? Deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances? … This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.”
Those are strong words. If I was a Republican, I suppose I would take offense. But on substance the remark is totally defensible and accurate. I leave it to Republicans to defend their voter suppression strategies. The reality, that high voter participation, and especially high turnout among African Americans, is bad for Republicans, is for Republicans to explain, which I expect they will never do honestly.
There was some discussion, direct and indirect, about how Democrats can make progress against the apparent determination of Senate Republicans to employ the filibuster to block the Democrats’ agenda.
Biden first took a middle ground, suggesting that the Senate at least go back to the old tradition that required filibusterers have to stay on the floor and keep talking in order to sustain a filibuster. But then he acknowledged that that might not be enough, adding: “We’re going to have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” perhaps meaning some way to overcome a filibuster with a simple majority vote.
Because of Biden’s age, I suppose, the question of his verbal and mental acuity was on the table. I would say he showed mastery of his material and made no major gaffes (at least that were immediately apparent to me).
Even better, he seemed confident and comfortable, determined and knowledgeable. Perhaps I entered with low expectations, but I found the whole performance reassuring, if not inspiring.
He was asked whether he expected to be a candidate for reelection in 2024, and he said yes. Personally, I attach no importance to that and assume it will be decided later. It’s reasonable that Biden would not want to unnecessarily declare himself a lame duck just as his presidency is getting launched.
On substance, the old question of whether Biden was too moderate for the lefties seemed strangely off-point yesterday. The further-left candidates might be pushing for some further-left things, including some things I support. But the question of what can be accomplished given the narrow Democratic majorities in Congress, will be determined – especially in the Senate and for the foreseeable future – by the most moderate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin and a few others.
(Over on Fox News, I noticed, the immediate reaction was that Biden didn’t call on a Fox correspondent and that he relied heavily on his notes. Give me a break. Did Fox ever complain when Donald Trump would reject questions from correspondents whose employers he disliked by saying: “You’re fake news.”?)
A full rush transcript of the event, which also includes a video of it, is available here.
One of the things I like about Biden, and that I looked forward to when he was running, was how boring he would be. There is no “oh god, what did he do today.”
They are trying to make an issue of him tripping on the steps or his dog biting someone. Its like Obama and the tan suit.
Yeah, governing got boring again!
Government leadership should not be a blood sport or about division, its about inclusion and solving problems. “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union …..”. Glad to see a politician that actually reads the documents, understands them and acts on them.
To listen to the reaction from many right side commenters one would surmise that he was wheeled up to the podium, dragged to an upright position, wiped the spittle off his lips and he commenced to read from his script, taking questions only from the chosen few.
They sooo long for a return to:
“Your fake news”
“What a nasty question”
“What a nasty person you are”
Biden’s approval rating will continue to diminish these critics, obviously not going away though.
The real silver lining is that once these folks are reduced to 25% of a 45% party the Ted Cruz’s and Josh Hawley’s of the world will be left to reflect on:
“I sold my soul to get the loyalty of about 15% of the voting public at the expense of alienating 60%?”
Good luck with that…
My favorite part of JB’s news conference was his response to Republican obstructionism and particularly the race in Republican-held states to suppress and disenfranchise voters.
The President said something like “everyone thinks its despicable, even Republicans. “Except,” he said, ” those in Congress.”
You could almost feel the power draining out of the fiercest McConnell remarks about the filibuster and the threat of scorched earth. Krugman has said elsewhere today that the Republican outrage is losing steam rapidly.
There nothing left but grievance on the right, and it doesn’t even convince their own voters anymore.
Biden “press conference” was pathetic.
It looked like a 7th grade debater reading from the note cards.
What is more pathetic is the behavior of the press. Tough questions? Follow-ups?
The “cover-up press” was in full “campaign mode” along with the “real journalists” as evidenced by the comments from this editorial writer financed by some of the riches left wing donors in MN. “You must follow the talking points” to give frail Joe some measure of credibly.
I was exhausted counting all his lies!
The question is who will be the first democrat to mention the 25th amendment? You know they are thinking about it.
I’m surprised you’re still standing after Trump’s 30,000+.
The big difference is that Biden’s misstatements are mostly exaggerations and shadings, not outright Orwellian ‘black is white’ lies.
Give us your top ten.
Buhler…
Buhler…
Buhler…
I also find it hilarious that a Trump supporter is outraged by lies
Oh, still waiting for your top ten lies…
I have said many times Trump is a liar – exaggerator – salesman, etc.
But if you are really concerned about lies – you will be concerned about all lies. To be just concerned about the lies of Trump and ignore, and actually endorse the lies of Obama and Biden – you are a “real journalist.”
Did you notice old joe fell 3 times in ten steps?
Did you read your own comment? You claim to be so concerned about lies, but Trump remains a heroic figure for you. Are you one of those who think he really won the election?
Biden can climb steps or a ramp without someone holding his hand.
Biden seemed just fine. Its not like he is in any kind of mental decline like Trump was. They have actually analyzed Trump’s speech from several decades back and compared it, and the decline is very pronounced. I think we can all agree that Biden is a lot sharper than Trump was. That is just beyond obvious.
What do you think Biden lied about? Even now, his lawyers are admitting that all the claims about election fraud were obviously false and that only complete fools believed them. Maybe Trump thinks all his supporters are fools, but he is still telling those lies. Trump’s whole career was based on lies. There are actually people who think Trump was a successful businessman. Its absurd.
“What do you think Biden lied about? ”
What the Washington Post fact checkers say he lied about. And the no water thing (read the law). Starvation in Mexico as policy.
Good thing it was only an hour and many of the questions were duplicates. But President Biden does bring back the air of being a President which is also a good thing.
Thanks for that.
Went to the WAPO fact checker and it is clear Biden earned a 2 Pinnochio for the tax comment and multiple somewhat true / somewhat false misleading statements:
You are correct.
Also, I find it very refreshing and reassuring that a Trump supporter now puts faith in the factual reliability of the WAPO fact checker, because in my visit there I also came across this:
“Ever since President Trump burst on the political scene in 2015, we have noted that we faced a challenge in not letting him dominate this list of the biggest falsehoods. The president is a serial exaggerator without parallel in U.S. politics. He not only consistently makes false claims, but also repeats them, in some cases hundreds of times, even though they have been proved wrong.
In 2019, Trump took seven of the 13 spots. He earned six spots in 2018 and 2017, five in 2016 and three in 2015. Even so, we cheated a bit because in some cases Trump’s false claims on a particular subject were so numerous and varied that we created all-around categories.
The explosion of false and misleading statements from Trump during his presidency is well documented in our database. We have struggled to keep up with his torrent of falsehoods during the final weeks of the campaign, when he barnstormed the country making 600 to 700 false or misleading claims a week. The next update will show he crossed the 25,000 mark by mid-October.”
Nice to see that we have bipartisan agreement on the validity of the WAPO fact checker.
Again, thanks for that.
Actually, whatever WAPO may say, GA’s new Jim Crow law is quite clear that one may not give food or drink to a person in line waiting to vote. So Biden’s take is correct. To dispute this is merely to repeat a (false) Repub talking point.
Whether GA police officials in Atlanta (the main area where GA’s Repub regime ensures that long election day voting lines exist) will act to enforce this disgusting white supremacist law is another matter. It is almost certain that Black churches will bravely act to flout it.
Trump was borderline insane and delusional, but that doesn’t make Bidens mental decline less worrisome stop drinking the koolaid
I assume that you’re professionally qualified to diagnose early dementia.
Biden shows a typical decline in mental agility for someone in their seventies.
The professional consensus is that this sort of decline (which starts in the 20’s) is compensated for by general increases in knowledge and judgement.
In other words, Biden has learned a lot in 30 years in the Senate and 8 years as VP, and is putting that to good use. He is smart enough to hire well qualified younger aides who can implement his directives.
If you have paid attention to Biden throughout his career, he has always made gaffes. And part of that is because he has a stutter.
So I am not the least bit worried about Biden’s menta decline. For the first time in four years we have a president whose mental faculties are fully intact.
C’mon man- it’s only a lie when one is aware of what one is saying rather than blathering off a crib sheet. He couldn’t even follow the list of reporters he was told to call on. As long as he is useful to their cause the leftist reporter/activists will fawn over him.
I know, after four years of nonsense, we finally have an intelligent president who know what he is talking about.
Knows what’s he’s talking about? He read off of notes written for him.
Unlike his predecessor, who couldn’t read his teleprompter.
Did you ever listen to Trump speak? When he read remarks prepared for him he sounded like a third grader forced to read an apology to the class (“And I’m sorry I called Billy a stinky head and that was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it and I won’t do it again.” All in a monotone). When he ad libbed, he made Gussie Fink-Nottle’s prize-giving speech sound like a hitherto undiscovered Fifth Philippic.
I’m not qualified to make such a diagnosis, but the words “aphasic sociopath” always came to mind.
Not even to mention the 60% of the public who approves of the job he is doing.
Interesting, Biden can’t even form complete sentences in your opinion and he is 20 points over Trump in approve / disapprove.
I guess DJT should have lost the Twitter machine earlier and played more golf and he could still be on the job.
Pretty easy to be 60% when he has a 99% compliant media and tech oligarchy pushing his narrative.
OK Cory, roll out the facts! I’m thinking BS, especially since Fox supposedly has ~ 30-40% of the cable viewer audience!
Yeah OK Ron, what would we call T****’s questions from the Fox and Friends etc. types, “Air Balls”?
Dare one say ‘presidential’?
His nonsensical answer about the border crisis was concerning. Cecelia Vega from ABC news, definitely not a right winger, called him out on it. Biden mumbled something about a 9 year old Honduran child who was found wondering around at a border crossing, should be returned to his mother in Honduras. That is the exact policy he changed 6 weeks ago! That was a Trump policy that Biden erased and he didn’t even know it. Wow! Just read that the Trump administration had child trafficking to a 45 year low, it has again exploded with Biden seemingly not knowing what his policy is.
Thanks to our resident rightwingers for the view from the Alternate Reality Universe, much obliged! Does it occur to them that Trumpolini effectively not only abolished the presidential press conference, he abolished even having a daily briefing by his crackpot press secretaries?
Are we now really going to have sudden “conservative” concern over presidential lies and a new-found respect and reliance on WAPO fact-checkers, of all things? It’s sort of like arguing a Dem presidential candidate is “unqualified” after Trump! At a certain point the hypocrisy would become fatal, one would have thought….
Makes one wonder if they actually saw the press conference, or if they had to wait until their favorite right-wing agitprop outlets told them what they thought before they could comment.
Cut-and-paste is the best thing that ever happened to the right-wing-nuts.
Softball questions from a media beholden to corporate interests and the military/industrial complex. No questions about the $15 minimum wage, one of his main campaign promises. No questions about $1,400 payments after all Democrats had promised $2,000. No questions about bombing Syria, an illegal act under international and domestic law. No questions about giving Cobra, an expensive plan with huge deductibles that few without jobs can afford, several billion dollars. Many other examples. It’s obvious that the press corps will treat Biden with kid gloves.
The Republicans are terrible and do virtually nothing to help average Americans, but the Democrats are not much better. Under both political parties the economic lives of average Americans have been in decline for several decades.
or you might say, “a pox on both….” But that’s what’s happening around the world and here. A pox has exposed the truth of our collective problems maintaining stable countries and cultures, let alone stopping the migration of people all over fleeing climate stresses.
The divisions that are manufactured from “donations” and PACs aren’t real.
How can rational people join so the “pox” is ours together to solve?*
(just rhetorical musing)*
1.9 Billion dollars, Bernie is backslapping him and you only see failure.
Get a grip: He just passed the most progressive piece of legislation in 60 years and you are bitter.
In most western European democracies, the Republican Party would be fascist and the Democratic Party far right wing. While other industrialized nations gave people guaranteed monthly payments during the pandemic, you claim that a single $1,400 payment is progressive. Most provisions of the bill are temporary, and when mortgage and rent payments come due in a few months we again will see how progressive the Democrats are.
Actually the Dems have supported and voted out three Covid relief payments since the pandemic began, not one. And the entire purpose of their continual extension of unemployment comp (usually without Repub support) is payment of necessities during the crisis. Obviously any further aid will depend upon the “progress” of the economy.
And while I don’t disagree with your view of our parties from the European perspective, Europe’s response to the crisis has been described as being too austere as well. They’re pinching pennies over paying for the vaccines, of all things!
The problem is that the EU is a coherent financial unit, but not a political one; Brexit didn’t help.
So you are congratulating the Dem’s on a great start?
Well, I’m not going to quibble with your description of our corporate media, they don’t really use their position to focus on real stories, for the most part. I will note that they they have by and large adopted Trumpite Steven Miller’s bad faith frame of “a crisis on the border!” over an inconsequential increase of asylum seekers. Only white nationalists see this as a “caravan crisis” of existential proportions, but the “lib’rul media” parrots the Repub talking points. You also failed to note that Biden was questioned on troop levels in Afghanistan. In their defense, the WH press corps can’t ask about everything in an hour.
On the other hand, after Biden and the Dem Congress pass a $1.9 trillion economic relief plan heralded as one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in 50 years, and without a single Repub vote, you conclude that “the Democrats are not much better” at helping the “average American”. Yes indeed, unless one gets the entire loaf, and not merely 80%, that’s total failure. Your position is unreasonable in the extreme, sir, and I daresay you are doomed to perpertual embitterment…
There are currently approximately 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States. That’s a total, not the yearly number which is obviously much less. Since most of them have been here many years, they are employed and paying taxes (since taxes are deducted by employers, it doesn’t matter whether an illegal immigrant doesn’t choose to file a tax return).
That total is about 3% of the population of the United States. If we can’t handle that number there is something radically wrong with our economic system.
For numbers, some interesting charts at
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/01/whats-happening-at-the-u-s-mexico-border-in-5-charts/
I hear people say that a lot, but if you actually follow the politics of other countries you would know that is completely untrue.
And the idea that the Democrats aren’t much better than the Republicans absolutely reeks of entitlement and privilege.
I follow the politics of other countries closely, unlike you. Some of us remember your nonsense from previous posts. When Morales was overthrown in a coup in Bolivia you stated that he was corrupt and unfairly elected, but independent analysts stated that the election was fair. Meanwhile, Anez, a corrupt, vile woman backed by the USA was guilty of murdering and maiming many, especially in the province of Cochabamba. Now when Arce was elected in an honest election, the Washington Post states that corruption exists in Bolivia once again, which is untrue.
Of course, you also stated that the NYT and Wapo publish only facts, which is absolutely false. They both check with the Pentagon before publishing anything detrimental to American foreign policy, backed the war in Iraq and the NYT was embarrassed by the Caliphate scandal.
You follow them closely reading fictional propaganda, not actual news.
It does have to sting for a certain segment that Biden has been a LOT more progressive than imagined. Not that he’s suddenly gonna wake up and be Bernie by any means, but its definitely taken a bit of your momentum hasn’t it?
You are assuming that facts are relevant to the discussion.
Totally (well almost) off topic:
A Good Yontiff to all who are celebrating Pesach!
To our astute right side commenters, I am sure you are noticing a certain glass house / rock effect here.
Until Biden goes 300 days between press conferences.
Has a $183,000 per year press secretary whose entire daily work product consisted of:
“The President started very early, worked late, help many meetings and made many phone calls”
And Presidential advice of:
Drink fish tank cleaner
Gargle with bleach
Stick UV light bulbs up your butt
It may be best to not find fault with a Biden press conference.
As even Biden said about the former guy in his press conference:
“God I miss him”
President Biden did seem to mention former President Trump quite a few times which, of course, keeps Trump in the news, and the papers, blogs, and television churning.
Mentioned by Biden or not, Trump is not going quietly into that good night.
And, in my opinion, that is maybe not a bad thing for “Never Trump” and D interests.
I have a hard time envisioning anyone at this late date coming to the conclusion that maybe they are a Trump supporter after all and jumping on to the bandwagon.
It is easier to envision the gradual shedding of once loyal Trumpsters: The post Trump Presidency seems to hold more potential for bad news: inside the COVID response, January 6 events, post election lies, QANON legacies, etc… than good news. (you’ll have to help me out there).
Trump is like that slowly diminishing shopping mall: creeping towards a loss of critical mass and all of a sudden it’s almost all empty store fronts with the Ted Cruz shop and Josh Hawley shop with big signs out front: “Find us in our new location”.
Except that Trump’s hard core (and it’s still millions) is still sending him money,which he needs badly right now to pay for legal defense now that an Attorney General no longer defends him for free.
Not surprisingly, Mr Biden flat out lied about the Georgia voting bill. Even the WaPo fact checker gave him 4 pinocchio’s. But he keeps repeating the lies because he knows he will get away with it.
Or he keeps repeating it because the WAPO fact-checker fell down on the job, since it is quite clear that the GA Jim Crow law prohibits a person from giving food or drink to someone waiting in line to vote. According to various legal analysts, a poll worker may make self-service water “available”, whatever that means. I guess it means that the presence of a water fountain doesn’t violate the law. What’s surprising is that the Repubs seem unwilling to admit the clear intent of the GA vote suppression law.
One critical element of WAPO fact checking is they must find that Both-Sides-Do-It, so they have to find that Biden “lied” somewhere or other to compensate for the endless stream of actual lies by various Repubs.
And since when did “conservatives” start relying on WAPO fact checkers?
I’m sorry it offends you that fellow leftists at the WAPO have to call out lies. I could use a conservative source, but you’d discount that too. He was clearly lying about poll closing times and has repeated the lie many times. The food and water issue is a silly rant from leftists. This is meant to keep activists from soliciting votes while people are waiting in line to vote. Not to kill black voters. Water will be provided, and in fact can be donated to polling sites for distribution by poll workers rather than activists.
Electioneering (“soliciting votes”) was already illegal in GA (as elsewhere), so pointing at that is just rightwing propaganda.
You have no idea if “water will be provided” by poll workers. It’s highly doubtful, and nothing but a talking point. And you can squirm all you want about how someone in GA could possibly go about “legally” providing water to (non-white) people waiting in line for hours to vote (a typical Repub specialty), but you can’t get around the fact that the law prohibits a citizen from giving a waiting voter a bottle of water, period. And now it appears Repubs in another one party state, FL, are going to enact the same vote supression measure(s).
Repubs should just admit what they are pulling.
No interest in addressing the fake 5pm talking point used repeatedly by Biden? Not surprised. The “I’m just handing out water” ruse has been used quite often to get around the ban on electioneering with 150ft of polling places. You’ll notice beyond 150ft activists can still “provide water” to the voters. I’m curious how many voters in Georgia are in danger of collapsing within 150ft of a polling place? You leftists have a very low opinion of voters.