Doesn’t the United States, supposedly world’s biggest economic and military superpower, have anyone else besides Joe Biden or Donald Trump to lead the nation? If the Americans still want to rule the world, but the best leaders they can offer are two old men quarrelling in front of millions of people on TV, the U.S. is doomed. This is the kind of fighting you see in nursing homes.
After the first Biden-Trump presidential debate that took place on June 27, Chinese popular social media platforms such as Douyin, WeChat and Xiaohongshu were flooded with short videos showing the two men’s gaffes and bickering – mocked and ridiculed as the type of western model of democracy that the Americans want to impose in other countries around the world, including China.
Calling the debate “very entertaining”, the two presidential nominees – Democrat Biden and Republican Trump – were seen as childish leaders engaged in personal attacks, blame game and name-calling. The debate itself was laughed off as nothing but a kindergarten level discussion. One nominee was mocked as suffering from Alzheimer while the other was mentally ill.
A blogger on Xiaohongshu sarcastically called the debate “outstanding” – “Otherwise, we won’t be able to see an old man who has one foot in the coffin and a chatterbox who is constantly spouting nonsense compete to be president”. Another netizen encouraged both Biden and Trump to continue fighting – “You all keep bickering, while we all keep going to the Moon. We’ll have a bright future “.
Two days before the embarrassing debate which reinforces the view in China about the U.S.’ decline, China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft on June 25 brought home samples from the far side of the Moon, the first time rock and soil from this lunar region that have successfully made it back to Earth. The debate, which was organised by CNN, has one thing in common – both Biden and Trump used China as a punching bag.
Trump said China was “killing us” and accused Biden of allowing it to happen – referring to the flow of illegal fentanyl drug into the U.S. which was responsible for 200 deaths every day. Over a quarter of a million Americans have died from a fentanyl overdose from 2018 to 2022. Mr Trump also said he might impose a tariff on Chinese goods of more than 60% if elected.
The Trump administration imposed nearly US$80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products made in China valued at approximately US$380 billion in 2018 and 2019 – the largest tax increases in decades. To show that he was not weak and was not pro-Beijing, Biden administration has kept most of Trump’s tariffs in place.
In May 2024, Biden announced tariff hikes on an additional US$18 billion of Chinese goods, including semiconductors and 100% tariff hike on all Chinese electric vehicles for an additional tax increase of US$3.6 billion. Already, the trade war policies currently in place added up to US$79 billion in tariffs – amounts to an average annual tax increase on U.S. households of US$625.
If Trump were to win the 2024 election and slaps the tariff hikes as promised, his proposed tariff increases would hike taxes by another US$524 billion annually and shrink GDP by at least 0.8%. Essentially, the trade war against China will continue regardless who wins the Oval Office – a stark reminder to the Chinese that whoever becomes president will continue to be tough on China.
Even though Trump appears to have won the first debate, the former president was seen as spreading fake news and rumours whilst Biden was in a state of serious confusion. Most voters think both Biden and Trump are too old to lead the country anyway. But it’s clearly Biden who suffered more reputational harm from the debate. As a result, Sleepy Joe is under pressure to withdraw.
However, Biden says he is not going anywhere, rejecting repetitive calls to drop out of the election race. He apparently was not done trying to prove to the world that he is absolutely senile. During a NATO event on Thursday (July 11), the 81-year-old U.S. President mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”.
A few hours after his screw-up, Biden dropped another bombshell as he tried to do some damage control by holding a rare solo news conference. Facing a myriad of questions from reporters, he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump”. The confused POTUS proudly said – “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I think she’s not qualified to be president.”
It was already bad after the Commander-in-Chief previously tried to shake hands with invisible people several times on stage. It becomes worse when the world’s most powerful man could not differentiate between Zelensky and Putin, after which he mixed up Harris with Trump. In another screw-up, Biden referred to his chief of staff as “my commander-in-chief”.
Biden’s condition has become so bad that close to 20 Democrat lawmakers have so far asked President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. Even Hollywood, which has always been a cash cow for the Democratic Party, is turning away from the toxic Biden. Superstar George Clooney, who is one of prominent donors, said that it was time for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Clooney, who had previously praised Biden, said – “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion, but this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”
Ms Disney, a filmmaker and great niece of Walt Disney, told CNBC last week that she would withhold donations until Mr Biden dropped out of the race. Michael Douglas said it would be “hard to imagine” Mr Biden serves his full term as president if re-elected. Heck, even some campaign staffers actually believed Joe Biden stood no chance of winning the election.
In fact, Democratic organizers have abandoned plans for a fundraiser in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention in August. There are speculations that after the convention, Biden could be thrown off the ticket by delegates. Veterans of the Obama and Clinton administrations reportedly are plotting behind closed doors to get him to withdraw quickly as time is running out.
But there’s one huge problem. The more the “unofficial Committee to Unelect the President” tries to convince the increasingly senile POTUS to quit, the deeper Biden digs in. In reality, if the president, who controls the party’s delegates, stubbornly chooses to stay in, there’s absolutely nothing the Democratic Party can do. And the party has no one to blame but itself.
Biden’s deteriorating mental problem did not happen overnight. The Democrats lied, concealed the truth and even rigged their own party’s electoral process under the pretext of protecting President Biden. Now, they suddenly realize he must be replaced, but with just 4 months away from Election Day, they are trapped – even panic – with no viable replacement for him.
Had the Democratic National Committee allowed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to challenge Joe Biden fairly and legitimately, for example, the Democrats might have a Plan-B today to face the bigger enemy – Donald Trump. In fact, Republicans have been pointing to Biden’s declining state since 2020. In denial, the Democrats dug their heels in even deeper because they thought their enemy was sabotaging their beloved Biden.
You don’t need a rocket scientist to know that Biden was having serious problems as he kept falling on the steps while boarding Air Force One. Many leading neurological specialists and doctors who are involved in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease has pointed out U.S. President Joe Biden are displaying symptoms of this neurodegenerative disorder. Clearly, he is unfit to hold office for a second term.
To cover-up Biden’s cognitive decline and to rule out that the president was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the White House physicians said he was in the greatest health, arguing that Biden’s cognitive decline were being blown out of proportion. To temporarily solve the problems, the 81-year-old Parkinson patient was provided with a shorter staircase and larger fonts in documents.
With most American voters divided into ideological camps, opinion polls show the race remains close. An NBC/PBS poll released on Friday found Biden leading Trump 50% to 48%. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found Biden and Trump tied at 40% each. Regardless of who wins the election, the U.S. has become a laughing stock for having two ageing leaders pulling each other’s hair. - financetwitter
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