Robust Trump speaks for many: 'I look at Joe, I don’t know'

FPI / March 8, 2020

Commentary by Lee Cohen

In comparison to his Democrat rivals, President Donald Trump is the personification of acuity and vigor.

Doddering Joe Biden is so addled, he publicly confuses everyone from world leaders to family members.

While Bernie Sanders appears more compos mentis (aside from political ideologies) than senescent Joe, his heart attack while on the campaign trail belies non-visible health issues of the 78-year-old socialist.

An Economist/YouGov Poll conducted in June 2019 reveals more terminal news for the Democratic candidates. The poll sought to determine American attitudes regarding age and the Presidency. The poll revealed that the majority of Americans feel that 75 is too old. Along party lines, Democrats responded on average 75, while Republicans were comfortable with a slightly older 77.

Even more depressing for Biden and Sanders, 48 percent of Americans believe being 80+ would make it too difficult to do the work required of a U.S. president. Eighty may indeed be the new seventy, but cognitive and physical health issues vary widely even among septuagenarians.

While President Trump bounds from a 13-hour India flight to press conferences and rallies, Biden and Sanders are not nearly as robust. In a fascinating account in the UK Spectator, British journalist Freddy Gray reveals alarming experiences and observations of covering the Biden Campaign. Gray concludes, that with each day, "Biden reveals a little more senility."

When Gray asked Biden about Brexit — the most important event in recent memory for America’s closest ally, the journalist concluded — Biden "had no idea what I was talking about."

During a campaign stop in Missouri on Saturday, the 77-year-old former vice president made a series of gaffes and incoherent statements as he appeared to lose his train of thought. At one point, he even mispronounced his own name. "... We cannot get re-elect, we cannot win this re-election, excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump," Biden said.

At the same event, Biden referred to himself as an "Obiden Bama Democrat." If that isn’t bad enough, there is a long list of recent examples of Biden’s confusion. Last week, Biden on the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men and women created by the … you know … you know, the thing."

He called Super Tuesday "Super Thursday". Unbelievably, last month he was quoted as saying: "We choose truth over facts!" And boy, are his facts murky! Making the case for enhanced gun control last week, he offered that gun crime in America had killed 150 million people since 2007. Or his claim that his child tax-credit plan would put 720 million women back to work.

On world leaders, to name but a few, Biden has confused Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher and Xi Jinping with Deng Xiaoping. The list is long and cringe-worthy, and dangerous for a man who Democrats favor to be their candidate.

As for Bernie Sanders, not only did he have a heart attack while on the campaign trail, but his campaign has not exactly been forthcoming with details regarding the incident or its consequences. The AP reported: “His campaign didn’t acknowledge that he had suffered a heart attack until his release several days later. And after pledging to divulge detailed accounting of his well-being, the campaign waited until New Year’s Eve to put out letters from three doctors attesting to his health — a move traditionally deployed to avoid scrutiny.”

The AP further indicated “Sanders’ health is arguably of most concern because of his heart attack, and together those doctors’ notes did reveal some important information: He’d undergone an exercise stress test after recovering, and it showed that his heart, which had sustained “modest heart muscle damage,” was functioning well when challenged.”

In fairness, at the age of 70, President Trump was the oldest president in history to assume office. However, he still will not have crossed the line according to the YouGov pool concerning the age that is too old to be president. Moreover, Trump’s performance and energy clearly indicate his fitness for the job. Trump’s quickness and ability to use the facts to his advantage have changed the profession of political journalism.

Fulfilling his promise to America, Trump has replaced the apologetic, America-last narratives of Obama and his left-wing colleagues with sentiments and policies of greatness appropriate for the world’s superpower.

With his unique style and ability to think on his feet, Trump quipped in response to Joe Biden’s resurrection from the dead after Super Tuesday, "I am a young, vibrant man," he joked on Monday. "I look at Joe, I don’t know."

Electing anyone in the 2020 race but Trump would not only be a step backward to the Obama-Biden doctrine of America last, but it would be dangerous from a fitness perspective of the commander-in-chief.

Lee Cohen is a fellow of the Danube Institute. He was an adviser on Europe to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and founded the Congressional United Kingdom Caucus.

Free Press International