The establishment left formulated its line quickly after Old Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance Thursday night, and now that line has received the stamp of approval not only from The Great Debater himself but from his handler of handlers, the sainted one himself, Barack Hussein Obama.
On Friday, both Biden and Obama halfheartedly conceded that Joe lost the debate but insisted that the putative president had won a much more important contest: Bad Orange Man lies with every breath, while Joe is unimpeachable (in all senses of the word), as honest as the day is long. But really, is he?
At a rally in North Carolina on Friday, Old Joe, full of defiant indignation and who knows what else, read the line off his teleprompter: “Well, folks, I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debah — debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth.”
That same afternoon, Obama echoed the same excuse: “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”