When the president of the United States makes a statement about his position or view of an issue, we’re supposed to be able to rely on that as an official statement of what his administration believes. Sure, presidents may garble a fact or butcher their syntax sometimes, requiring the press secretary to clear up the occasional ambiguity or misstatement later, but when the press secretary and other administration figures repeatedly have to tell people that an aging, visibly slowed president didn’t mean what he obviously said, it is time to start wondering if the president is all there and is actually in charge.
That has become a worrisome pattern with Joe Biden’s public statements. Sometimes, an appearance requires multiple “clarifications.” Sometimes, it requires flatly contradicting what the president has said. We’re back there today, on Ukraine, and also on voting rights.
Comments