Like a broken clock, even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets it right sometimes — it’s just for all the wrong reasons.
That was on display on CNN Sunday, when “State the Union” host Dana Bash asked the Democratic socialist from New York if she would back would President Joe Biden if he decides to run for reelection in 2024.
The next 50 seconds were almost painful to watch — especially for Joe Biden’s rapidly thinning fan base.
“You know, if the president chooses to run again in 2024 …,” the congresswoman from New York said, before abruptly stopping and changing course.
She laughed and told Bash, “I mean first of all, I’m focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority in 2022. So we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But, um, but I think if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes.”
Trending:
“That’s not a yes,” Bash observed.
“Yeah, you know, I think we should endorse when we get to it, but I believe that the president has been doing a very good job, uh, so far and, um, you know, should he run again, I think it’s … it’s … we’ll take a look at it.”
She laughed and added, “But right now we need to focus on winning a majority instead of a presidential election.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Joe Biden.
Check it out here:
? @AOC is refusing to back Biden in 2024.
What about the rest of her @HouseDemocrats colleagues? pic.twitter.com/QUyJlawM62
— NRCC (@NRCC) June 12, 2022
Of course, Ocasio-Cortez is not a representative example of anything but the outermost fringes of politically viable leftism in the U.S., but the idea that she, one of the most recognizable names in the Democratic Party, won’t come anywhere near supporting Biden, speaks volumes.
The fact that she’s undoubtedly avoiding it for exactly the wrong reason doesn’t change how damaging it is for the president.
Sensible Americans realize the fact that Biden’s administration has been a disaster for the country on every level — from inflation and the economy to an ongoing cross-border invasion to foreign policy failures.
None of that is reason enough for a left-winger like AOC to oppose him, of course.
Although conservatives have been infuriated by Joe Biden’s sharp left turn since his reemergence on the political scene in 2019, AOC likely views him as too conservative. This should be a huge red flag for the American electorate.
It’s possible, also, that she she might see him as too old to run in 2024. If he were to win a second term, he would be 82 upon his inauguration.
That said, it’s almost impossible to imagine Ocasio-Cortez not supporting her fellow Democratic socialist, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with whom her far-left politics are more in sync.
(Sanders hasn’t ruled out a run if Biden doesn’t seek reelection, according to an April report in The Washington Post.)
Democrats — and their mainstream media allies — are looking cool to the idea of a 2024 Biden run.
The New York Times, which is more a newsletter of the Democratic Party than an actual newspaper for normal Americans, published an article on Saturday titled, “Should Biden Run in 2024? Democratic Whispers of ‘No’ Start to Rise.”
It begins: “Midway through the 2022 primary season, many Democratic lawmakers and party officials are venting their frustrations with President Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda, doubting his ability to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing and increasingly viewing him as an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024.”
The piece is filled with quotes from party operatives who oppose a second run for the president.
The Times cited an article that appeared in New York magazine in May that noted:
“No one seriously wondered about Barack Obama’s plans to seek a second term in the spring of 2010, or Bill Clinton’s in 1994, or even Jimmy Carter’s in 1978. (He got a strong primary challenge from Ted Kennedy, but there was never any doubt Carter would re-up.) In the past few months, though, many of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors — even as they pledge to back Biden’s reelection in earnest — have quietly started to poke around for alternatives in 2024, partly out of a sense of responsibility just in case Biden steps aside.”
Do you think Joe Biden will run for a second term?
Though none of the Democrats who talked to the Times uttered a word about Biden’s obvious cognitive decline, there are numerous references to Biden’s age and the writers mention his propensity for gaffes.
David Axelrod, the chief strategist for both of former President Barack Obama’s campaigns, told the Times, “The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue.”
“Biden doesn’t get the credit he deserves for steering the country through the worst of the pandemic, passing historic legislation, pulling the NATO alliance together against Russian aggression and restoring decency and decorum to the White House,” Axelrod said. “And part of the reason he doesn’t is performative. He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality.”
Actually, questions about Biden’s competence are very much rooted in reality. Virtually every public appearance is marred by gaffes. He slurs his words, he often loses his train of thought, and he lapses into gibberish.
Expect Democratic candidates to suddenly recall their “previous engagements” when he comes to their town, just as Georgia’s Democratic current gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams did in January.
While Ocasio-Cortez’s stab at diplomacy on Sunday might have been admirable, from a purely partisan point of view, she couldn’t conceal her feelings about a 2024 Biden run.
Unfortunately for Biden, it appears she’s not alone.
And when it comes to his decision on whether to run for reelection, the clock is already ticking.
