The attacks on President Biden's age in the media have been unfair. There is only a three-year difference in age between the GOP frontrunner (let's face it, Lumpy will be nominated) and the President, and yet, only one is being asked to step down. I'm looking at you, Ezra Klein. Why would we want to fire someone who is doing a damn good job?
Biden is the most forward-thinking President in recent history and is keeping his promises. Student debt is being forgiven, infrastructure week is here, and Biden is not giving unneeded tax breaks to the wealthiest. He was old when we elected him, so it's no surprise that he's old now, three years later. But he's getting the job done. And he's out fundraising Trump by far, and without selling tacky sneakers.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell took a hammer and absolutely nailed in on the ageist attacks. "The job is to make decisions, not speeches," he said. "History writes about the decisions. That's what matters."
"All of the people who suggest that Biden should step aside because they want the Democrats to win are basing that strategy on the notion that Joe Biden is just too old," the MSNBC host said. "And the notion that Joe Biden is too old is based on a complete and utter misunderstanding of the work of the presidency."
"The job is to make decisions, not speeches," he continued. "History writes about the decisions. That's what matters. If you have worked in government, you know that because speechmaking is the only thing that the news media is allowed to watch."
"In a presidency, the news media insists that that must be important," O'Donnell said. "It's just like the Super Bowl. You can remember what Patrick Mahomes did on the field, but you can't remember a word of his speech. And that's for a very good reason. The job is on the field."
"Everyone who sees Joe Biden doing his job behind closed doors believes he is fully capable to do that job and is good at that job, including former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who, though he disagreed with Joe Biden, always thought President Biden was fully capable when he was in the room negotiating with him last year," O'Donnell said.
"Last year, when Joe Biden managed to do what seemed impossible and convince the Republican speaker of the House to go along with a deal that would prevent the United States of America from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history and violating the debt ceiling, it looked impossible at the outset, but Joe Biden did it," he continued.
"Jon Stewart asked a question recently that makes sense in the age of the ubiquitous camera," he said. "We all have one in our pocket. He asked, did anyone film that? And he was referring to all of those reports that are out there from people who have been in private meetings and negotiations with President Biden and have seen him perform flawlessly."
"Did anyone film that?" he added. "That's the problem with the presidency. We only film the parts that don't matter. We are not allowed to film the real job."
Ezra, he's talking about you, dear:
Some people say there isn't much enthusiasm for Joe Biden, and the polls show that, but most people I know love Biden's time in office. The polls don't make sense to me. People are more aware of Trump because he's like a trainwreck. You can't look away.
Full video and transcript (auto-generated) below the fold:
