Republicans struggle to make phony scandals stick to President Biden
Republicans and their media partners and bots are spending an awful lot of time generating “Non-troversies” — supposed controversies about Joe Biden that have no basis in fact or are so insignificant, they should have no impact in a rational world.
Recently we have seen “Major Biden” trending because Judicial Watch, a dubious conservative gotcha group “uncovered,” via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, documents proving that Biden’s dog bit Secret Service agents more times than had previously been reported. What a scandal!
Late Saturday, Republican social media talking heads and their Fox News echo chamber breathlessly reported that Biden didn’t have the decency to go to Dover Air Force Base to meet the remains of U.S. service members who were killed by terrorist bombs in Kabul as they were helping to secure the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan collaborators as part of the U.S. withdrawal from that war-torn country.
The problem with this report is that, at the time it was circulating, the plane with the service members’ remains hadn’t even landed in Dover. It landed at 8 AM the next morning. Of course, Biden did go to the solemn ceremony for the transfer of the caskets. Air Force One landed at 8:40 AM, whereupon the President met with the families of the fallen American heroes and then attended the “dignified transfer” after 11 AM.
Once the fundamental criticism of Biden was proven to be false, the perpetrators and spreaders of the lie didn’t apologize. Instead, they found fault with Biden’s demeanor at the event, expressing outrage that at one point he appeared to glance at his watch. Gasp!
Speaking of Delaware, Republicans are distressed that President Biden often spends his weekends at his home there. Never mind that he doesn’t feather his own nest with these trips, by overcharging Secret Service for rooms or meals and water at his own facility, much less gouge them for golf cart “rentals,” as Trump routinely did as part of his campaign to milk the federal government for his own personal gain as much as he could.
Even when Biden didn’t go home for the weekend to Delaware, Republicans complained that he was at Camp David, especially during the fall of Afghanistan. Never mind that Camp David is the official Presidential retreat, equipped with all the necessary equipment for the leader of the free world to carry out any of his duties. Naturally, the Fox Republicans who complained that Biden was using this facility had no problem a few years ago when Trump invited the Taliban there to spend the anniversary of 9/11 with him.
Another non-troversy is the perpetuation of the myth of “Sleepy Joe.” Republican suck-ups like to use Trump’s juvenile nickname for Biden to create the impression that Biden is not a hands-on President involved in decision-making on important policy matters. Their latest effort (so far), involves the assertion that Biden fell asleep briefly during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. This has been debunked by many, including CNN legend Daniel Dale, who analyzed tape of the meeting to show that Biden was responsive to Bennett throughout their discussion.
Of course, it is laughable that obsequious supporters of a man who spent the bulk of his Presidential Day in “Executive Time,” watching Fox News, telephone-pillow talking with Sean Hannity, and rage tweeting from the toilet, now claim that Biden is not attentive enough to his Presidential duties. Stirring up non-troversies seems to be the Republicans’ main weapon against Biden. It appears that’s all they have to work with.
