President Joe Biden is done. Absent a miracle—or gross negligence—he will not be the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate.
When the history books are written, it will not be his performance at last Thursday’s debate that sealed his fate, but Monday’s Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States.
The enormity of the power that the Supreme Court has enumerated for a Trump presidency has begun to sink in for Democrats and they are frightened for their lives. They should be.
It is entirely conceivable now that an invigorated President Trump would begin arresting political opponents on his first day in office and possibly executing them.
US Supreme Court rules Trump has broad immunity from prosecutionAbsent yesterday’s SCOTUS decision, Biden might have been able to hang on and tough it out despite his debate performance. But not now.
A trickle of Congressional Democrat dissenters are starting to appear, gradually. It will suddenly be a flood.
I have seen this before as a corporate lawyer.
The signals are eerily reminiscent of Lehman Brothers just before it collapsed into bankruptcy, and the CEO resignations of BP’s Bernard Looney, Uber’s Travis Kalanick and CNN’s Chris Licht.
In each case, the narrative around the subject was focused on explaining how nothing was wrong. That has become the Democratic Party’s narrative—Joe Biden is fine.
Who could replace Biden if he withdraws from race?But the stakes are now too high. With their necks literally on the line, Democrats will not risk betting that “stale” can still beat “steal.”
Today, Democratic governors met with Biden to “check in on him.” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s words on CNN prior to the meeting were ominous.
“We want to make sure he is doing okay. He says that he is and we take him at his word, but it’s always good to see someone in person. These governors—who want to be helpful—just want to make sure that when they’re talking one-on-one to people in our communities, that we’re giving them accurate and reliable information, because as a governor, your credibility is so key to getting things done.”
This is not what a Democratic governor should be saying about his party’s presidential nominee.
In fact, the phrases “we take him at his word, but” and “[we] want to be helpful” are alarm bells.
New York Times calls for Biden to leave 2024 presidential raceThese Democratic governors have gotten together and put Biden on the equivalent of a performance improvement plan. In the corporate world, a “PIP” is the final step before termination. It lays out how an underperforming worker is falling short of expectations. If the employee does not improve immediately, he or she is terminated.
Following Wednesday’s meeting with Biden, some of the governors voiced their support publicly, but not all. Over the Fourth of July break, they will huddle together and watch to see if the president can turn this around.
But the Comeback Kid will not be pulling a rabbit out of his hat this time. Nearly a week since his debate with Donald Trump, he is still apologizing for his “poor performance.”
On Tuesday, CNN reported that in public remarks to donors, Biden tried to pin the blame on his grueling travel schedule. “I almost fell asleep on stage,” he is reported to have said.
Say it ain’t so, Sleepy Joe.
It’s only a matter of time, possibly mere days, before the Democratic governors and other party leaders tell the president they’re not going to put their credibility on the line for him.
It’s over. And if it isn’t, then say goodbye to a lot more than Joe Biden.
Stephen Diamond is a corporate lawyer and biotech executive based in New York City.
