Traditionally, the president is the head of state, but the head of his own party as well. As we have known for a while, and the media and pundit class was unable to deny on Thursday night, Joe Biden is in control of exactly nothing.

The old man couldn’t even GET HIMSELF OFF THE STAGE on Thursday night.

But because Dr. Jill, who is clearly guilty of both spousal abuse and elder abuse, refuses to give up control of Joe and the White House, this farce is going to go forward. Remember how the debate performance was so bad on Thursday night that it was “leaked” partway into the debate that Biden had a cold, so that’s why his voice was so raspy and frail sounding? Yeah, about that…

He had a cold. Wasn’t feeling well. Contagious. That’s why we took him to Waffle House in the middle of the night and had him touch a bunch of people. pic.twitter.com/rHdNSia8IN

— Erik Telford (@ErikTelford) June 29, 2024

Time to throw the bullshit flag on everything the White House and the Democrats are trying to sell right now. The talking points went out from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who really are the leaders of the Democrats right now. If anyone asks who the head of the party truly is, it’s Barack Obama. Bill Clinton is a mere afterthought in party politics, but still carries some credibility because he is a two-term president. But it’s Obama who tried to reset what happened on Thursday.

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the…

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 28, 2024

The full post reads:

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.

Yeah, I don’t want to hear Obama pointing fingers about “lying through his teeth for his own benefit.” I got one word for you, buster – Benghazi. Also, go f**k yourself. The reason Obama wants Biden to stay in the race is solely because he CAN control the party while Biden is in the White House. If Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, or anyone else with a moderately functioning sense of self becomes president, do you think Obama will still be able to exert the same level of control that he does now? NOPE. Obama isn’t making excuses for Joe Biden for Biden’s sake, he’s doing it to make sure HE still has outsized influence in the White House.

Ben Smith at Semafor pointed out that it would be a very small group of people, outside of his immediate family (and that family dynamic is a hot mess), who would be able to convince him to drop out. That list, according to him, includes both Obama and Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn, Chuck Schumer and possibly Hakeem Jeffries. Schumer and Jeffries are really only on this list because of their current leadership positions, and would be able to tell other Democrats what they should or should not be saying or doing. Everyone else is either a former president, former presidential candidate, or a Biden loyalist. In other words, the number of people who could tell Joe to go is very small, and none of them have a compelling interest in doing so. They see no problem with “presidenting by committee,” as Congressman Ro Khanna all but admitted to – so long as it’s THEIR committee.

Is that how it works? https://t.co/3K0hMbpfOr

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 28, 2024

Never mind the fact that the truth is now oozing uncontrollably out of journalists who have tried to keep it all in for the “greater good,” but would still like to have some credibility when the old man is no longer in office.

From 10am to 4pm, Biden is dependably engaged — and many of his public events in front of cameras are held within those hours.

Outside of that time range or while traveling abroad, the other Biden is more likely to emerge and have verbal miscues and become fatigued, aides say.

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 29, 2024

Oh, well GREAT. I’m sure we can make sure all world crises happen between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm Eastern time! No problem!

The public split screen isn’t new to many inside the White House, where top aides have meticulously stage-managed minutiae such as Biden’s sleep schedule, his orthopedic shoes, his walks to Marine One and his climb aboard Air Force One to try to blunt concerns about his age.

Internally, many aides have seen flashes of an absent-minded Biden, but typically brush them off as ordinary brain farts because they usually see him engaged, eight current and former Biden officials told Axios.

But Thursday’s debate has shattered the White House’s efforts to show Biden at his best: a president capable of serving until 2029, when he’d be 86.

Biden’s miscues and limitations are more familiar inside the White House.

The time of day is important as to which of the two Bidens will appear.

From 10am to 4pm, Biden is dependably engaged — and many of his public events in front of cameras are held within those hours.

Outside of that time range or while traveling abroad, Biden is more likely to have verbal miscues and become fatigued, aides told Axios.

Thursday’s 90-minute debate began at 9pm ET.

Afterward, CNN’s cameras captured First Lady Jill Biden gingerly helping her husband descend the few stairs by the podium.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios that there “is one Joe Biden, who works his heart out fighting for families like the one he grew up in in Scranton, and who, because of his determination, experience and decency, keeps achieving unprecedented results for them.”

What we are seeing is classic “sundowning” brought on by dementia, and it doesn’t matter how many drugs get pumped into old Joe. Nothing is going to “fix” his age, or his brain, or the fact that he needs help getting down two or three steps after a debate. A debate, mind you, that he demanded to have and set the conditions for. As the New York Times correctly pointed out, Biden “failed his own test.” And the Democrats in charge are desperate to hold on to their power through him, that they can no longer wield on their own, in order to keep control.

In the meantime, America’s allies and enemies are taking note. If Joe Biden is not in charge, then exactly why should they believe anything coming out of his mouth, or from the White House?

Featured photo: Joe Biden and Barack Obama in 2012, via the Barack Obama Flickr account, cropped, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0