Political obituary
The Jill Biden shadow presidency is finally over, not a moment too soon:
With the benefit of hindsight, Biden’s decision to run for a second term likely sealed Trump’s comeback victory. During the 2020 election, Biden pitched himself as the safe port in the storm, but his subsequent mental and physical decline left the public wondering whether he could still steer the ship. The slide to his exit from the race put on full display the president’s pride and stubbornness, and it was left to Democratic party elders to force Biden out of an election that he’s still insisting he could have won.
In his lame duck period, as he did at times throughout his presidency, Biden flouted many of the very norms and institutions he argued Trump threatens. He justified the pardon of his son Hunter Biden by claiming his own Justice Department had been infected by political bias. He opted at the last minute to not enforce the TikTok ban, a measure he signed into law. And last but certainly not least, he unilaterally declared a new constitutional amendment to be the law of the land.
Biden leaves Washington at arguably the lowest point in his political career since the implosion of his first run for the White House 37 years ago. Time could ultimately prove sympathetic to Biden’s record, or it could deliver an even more damning indictment. If the president has taught us anything, it’s that trying to scoop the verdict of history is risky business.
“I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time,” Biden said in April 2019 when he announced his presidential campaign. “But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are.”
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in today at noon.
I never expected to loath Joe Biden as I’ve loathed him over his lame-duck period.