bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Alex Lo

In what was a first in modern American presidential history, Joe Biden at last gave his first “formal” press conference last week – a full 65 days after taking office.
After the daily in-your-face presidency of Donald Trump, perhaps that was a relief for most Americans. The mainstream press has even praised Biden for not showing up as a new political virtue.
A New York Times columnist explains why “Biden has disappeared”. “For the life of me, I can’t find Joe Biden,” he wrote. “Should we send a search party?
“I’m in no way saying it’s a bad one. If anything, it’s the opposite… The dirtiest word in his revised vocabulary is the first-person singular. This new, self-effacing Biden is an exorcism of Donald Trump.
“Abracadabra: He made himself vanish.”
A Financial Times writer also commented on “the radical unavailability of Joe Biden”.
“The president is calming US politics by not saying very much,” he claimed.
“A less visible president is a less contentious one.”
I can quote a dozen similar commentaries. But after last week’s performance, we now know the real reason. Biden went off on tangents, forgot his talking points, lost his trains of thought.
Commenting on the migrants’ crisis, he repeated twice the previous day’s talking points, including a description of someone “sitting at their kitchen table”.
He tried to explain what the US was doing about it. “And the other thing we’re doing, I might add,” he said, then halted in mid-sentence. “Am I giving you too long of an answer? Because if you don’t want the detail… I don’t know how much detail you want about immigration.”
Looking confused, he concluded: “Maybe I’ll stop there.”
Referring to voter integrity laws sponsored by Republicans, he said: “This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.”
Let’s just say “Jim Crow” refers to anti-black laws in the American south, not birds.
Such gaffes weren’t his first as president.
In February, at a “town hall” meeting, he claimed there were no Covid-19 vaccines until he took office. At a White House event, he forgot the name of his defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, instead referring to the first black Pentagon chief as “the guy who runs that outfit over there”.
Okay, the guy is 78. I lose my train of thought and can’t remember what I was thinking seconds ago. I am only 55. But I am not the most powerful man in the world.


Trump-Xi summit preparations falter as planning gaps unsettle Beijing

US judge permanently blocks release of report on Trump classified documents case

Former Biden official says US must work with allies to counter China

‘Baby blue’ out, gold in: how Air Force One will look after Trump’s order

Joe Biden

Worrying senility at the White House

President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference at the White House. Photo: AP

Early signs from Biden White House of more balanced China policy ahead

Early indications from President Joe Biden’s administration point to the return of a more traditional approach to US-China relations. Photo: Bloomberg

Biden pledges to prevent China from becoming the world’s ‘leading’ country

President Joe Biden speaks during the first formal press conference of his presidency in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday. Photo: Abaca Press/TNS

Opinion


The mainstream liberal press thinks it’s a newfound political virtue for Joe Biden’s disappearing act but his performance at his first presidential press conference last week should give people pause



Donald Trump

US Politics

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

My Take

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}My Take | Worrying senility at the White House

My Take | Worrying senility at the White House