VICTOR JOECKS: Biden hypocritical call for unity rings hollow
If President Joe Biden wanted unity, he would have started with an apology. Instead, he continues to claim Donald Trump is a threat to democracy
On Saturday, a would-be assassin tried to kill Trump. The gunman hit him in the ear. The bullet was inches away from killing him. God protected the country from a much darker outcome. Tragically, one man died and others were seriously wounded.
“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated,” Biden said on Sunday night. “It’s time to cool it down. And we all have a responsibility to do that.”
He is certainly right that the country is awash in heated political rhetoric. The following statements all came from the same politician. See if you can guess who it is.
“Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy,” he wrote on X on July 5.
“Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation,” he wrote on June 28. “He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”
He has made similar comments for years. In a September 2022 speech, he said, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
It’s hard to imagine more heated political rhetoric than this. But, as you’ve probably already guessed, those quotes all came from Biden.
And he’s not changing course. In a NBC interview Monday, anchor Lester Holt asked Biden, Have you “done a little soul searching on things you may have said that could incite people who are not balanced?”
Biden rejected that idea. “How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything ’cause it may incite somebody?”
Instead, Biden continued, Trump “has engaged in that rhetoric. Talks about there’d be a bloodbath if he loses.”
Leave aside that Biden is taking Trump out of context. The hypocrisy and victim blaming here is off the charts. Trump was the one who was almost assassinated. And there wasn’t a single riot in the country that night. In contrast, leftist groups are planning to riot in Chicago during the Democratic convention.
Biden won’t lower the rhetorical temperature because he has nothing else to run on. The economy is terrible. Inflation has ravaged budgets. People are struggling to pay their bills.
The world is a mess. Biden surrendered in Afghanistan. He has undercut Israel, our loyal ally in the Middle East. Hamas is still holding American hostages.
The border is wide open. Illegal immigrants have overwhelmed sanctuary cities. Illegal alien criminals, whom federal officials had in custody and released, have raped and murdered Americans, according to police.
He can’t even run on appearance. Trump looked more vigorous seconds after being shot than Biden did minutes into a presidential debate.
That’s why Biden has spent years calling Trump a threat to the nation’s survival. It’s his only chance of winning. And even if it means Trump dies in the process, Biden shows no sign of changing course.
Listen to Victor Joecks discuss his columns each Monday at 7 a.m. with Kevin Wall on AM 670 KMZQ Right Talk. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.
