Joe Biden’s Trumpian Turn

Biden and his team have succeeded in holding onto the nomination by framing questions about his ability to continue as a battle against elites. On the one hand, there is Biden, his family, and a handful of vocal defenders. On the other hand, there is the commentariat, donors, and a large number of elected Democrats who happily grouse to reporters anonymously about their dire interpretation of the president’s reelection chances but say little publicly. That silence helps Team Biden dismiss the worries as coming from a panicky ruling class disconnected from actual voters. Biden has, in a very Trumpian turn, painted himself as not just an underdog but a victim—someone fighting elites and special interests who have it out for him, often in vague, sinister, and unspecified terms.

The fact that Democrats are roughly evenly divided over whether he should continue as the party’s nominee—and that 80 percent of voters have concerns about his age—has rarely factored in. No one wants to publicly come out against Biden continuing because the potential consequences are significant. An elected Democrat would face personal and professional risks for saying what is obvious to so many. There would be blowback. If Biden continues as the nominee and loses, they will be blamed. Efforts to organize opposition to his candidacy have largely fizzled for this reason.

Biden and his team have, in other words, successfully made this a very Trumpian palace intrigue story. Voter anxiety is discounted in service to the warring-elites narrative. It is a performance as selfish, pathetic, and histrionic as any of the Trump era. And yet this man will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee.