Democrats should be absolutely *furious* with the Biden White House

They knew.

For months (and months), top aides to President Joe Biden insisted that talk about his age, his health and his competence was totally off base and out of bounds.

They insisted this was a media creation — aided and abetted by Republicans who were desperate to make Biden’s age an issue because they had a damaged nominee in Donald Trump.

When the Wall Street Journal earlier this month published a richly-reported piece headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping,” the White House (and its Democratic allies) went into full attack mode.

Here’s White House spokesman Andrew Bates:

“It's a little surprising that The Wall Street Journal thought it was breaking news when congressional Republicans told them the same false claims they've spouted on Fox News for years, but it's also telling that the only individuals willing to smear the President in this story are political opponents afraid to use their names — plus one proven liar.”

Uh, care to revise and extend those remarks, Andrew?

Look, I don’t actually blame Bates. He’s a staffer — and a relatively junior one — who is being told what to say. He was told to defend the president. So he defended the president.

Know who I do blame? The high Biden command — in the campaign and in the White House — starting with First Lady Jill Biden.

Why? Because they HAD to know that what Joe Biden did last night was a possibility. That he had lost some capacity — maybe more than some — to stand on a debate stage for 90 minutes and think on his feet. That he could look so, well, old. And out of it. And certainly not equipped to spend the next FOUR years as president.

Simply put: They weren’t honest — either with themselves, their party or the media, The fact is — and it was on VIVID display last night — Joe Biden has lost a step (or three).

And that willingness to deceive themselves (and us) has MASSIVE consequences. Because the other guy in the race is Donald Trump. Who sought to use the power of the federal government to overturn a free and fair presidential election. Who helped foment the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. And who has repeatedly shown a bent toward authoritarian principles when talking about his plans for a 2nd term.

Which is bad enough! But it’s not just the White House that’s at stake here.

Democrats currently have a single seat majority in the Senate. If I am Montana Sen. Jon Tester or Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown waking up this morning, I am LIVID at the White House. Biden was always going to lose those two states but after a performance like the one he gave last night, a blowout in each is a possibility — making it nearly impossible for either Tester or Brown to win.

Ditto the House where Democrats are trying to retake the majority in the fall. What Biden showed last night suggests that he could drastically underperform expectations in districts where the party needs to win. And if the top of the ticket is underperforming, it’s very hard for a downballot candidate to win in anything but the safest districts.

Seen through that lens, what the Biden White House did is utterly selfish. They knew he was not the man he was even four years ago. And not only did they attack (and shame) everyone who suggested that a) his age was a real issue and b) there should be a real conversation about it within the Democratic party but they also decided to take the HUGE risk of putting him out on that debate stage.

I am sure they felt they had to do it — to combat the idea that they were hiding him because of his age. (Which they clearly have been!) And they probably figured it was a gamble, yes, but that he had shown an ability to rise to the occasion before (his “State of the Union” speech, for example) and that he would again.

But, again: They had to know — or, at the very least, suspect — that a worst-case scenario for Biden could look something like what we saw last night. And if that is a possibility — even a remote one — you can’t roll him out there. It’s too big a risk to him and the party.

So, if you are looking for people to blame today — and LOTS of people are — you should look directly at the White House. From Jill Biden to chief of staff Jeff Zients to senior adviser Mike Donilon. And to the top operatives on the Biden reelect.

They knew. And they insisted he was fine. And that all of us asking questions about his age were misguided and malevolent.

This was gross political malpractice. Period.