Wyoming’s congressional delegates are sounding alarms about the United States’ trajectory after President Joe Biden hosted a solo press conference following an hour delay Thursday evening.
The president intoned and articulated his prepared speech about the legacy of NATO fluently, but was often incomprehensible during the press question period that followed.
Just prior to the conference, he referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin" and during it to his own Vice President Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump."
“It’s tough to watch President Biden fumble and mumble through more public events. It’s also dangerous for America to have a President that appears so out of touch,” said Wyoming’s senior Republican Sen. John Barrasso after the event. “We have to get America back on track. There is too much at stake for our safety, our security, and for our future success in Wyoming to return Joe Biden to the White House.
“Nothing about today’s press conference changes that.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, voiced similar concerns, saying Biden is unfit to run for reelection and unfit to serve due to a “severe cognitive decline.”
“Our country has never looked weaker on the world stage than it has the last two weeks due to President Biden’s continued failed performances,” she said.
She insisted he take a cognitive test with an “unbiased medical professional, not try to hold an 11th-hour press conference trying to change public perception.”
Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s lone U.S. House delegate, said even in spite of Biden’s diminishing performance, his administration “has fumbled and failed at every opportunity to protect Americans and create prosperity.”
Wyoming has no Democratic delegates in Congress.
Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Joe Barbuto did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
However, the party has praised and voiced support for Biden up to and after the debate, pointing to a reported drop in illegal Southern border crossings, and posting three blue heart emojis in response to Biden’s vow to stay in the presidential race.
‘My Predecessor’
Biden kicked off a prepared speech confidently with even vocal intonation, lauding NATO’s 75-year legacy and its genesis as an alliance following World War II.
He criticized his “predecessor,” former President Donald Trump, who has denigrated NATO. He pledged his future support for Ukraine and insisted that Russia would not stop conquering independent states once overcoming Ukraine.
The president floundered during questioning from the press, frequently stammering, occasionally dropping to an insistent whisper and once shouting about gun violence in response to a question about whether he’s made up his mind to run against Trump in the 2024 General Election.
Pace Myself
Nearly all reporter questions ran along the lines of Biden’s fitness to run or to continue the job.
He balked at hints that he’s not fit to occupy the Oval Office for the next four-and-a-half years.
“The only thing age does is help me with — creates a little bit of wisdom, if you pay attention,” he said, after saying he’s taken intense neurological tests and his doctors have said he’s fine mentally.
He countered media reports from last week, saying he never announced that he has to go to bed at 8 p.m. But he said he does have to pace himself to get through the days. Later, he added with a chuckle, “Sometimes my staff talks a lot.”
The concerns about Biden’s mental state followed a June 28 debate against Trump in which Biden frequently misspoke, trailed off and appeared dazed and unblinking, and which left supporters and detractors alike questioning his competence.
He’d traveled through 15 time zones the week before that debate, Biden said.
“Since I made that stupid mistake in the campaign, I mean the debate, my schedule has been full-bore,” said Biden. “Where’s Trump been, riding around in his golf cart, filling out his score card before he hits the ball? He’s done nothing.”
Some international reporters asked whether Biden believes his recent performance hurts the United States’ standing among other world leaders, and whether he’s the best person to beat Trump. One said several European countries fear a Trump win would gut international support for the U.S.
Biden said other world leaders and economists have praised his accomplishments, and he insisted that he’s not done with his work.
Others asked questions about whether Vice President Harris is fit to be president if he can’t serve, and Biden insisted that he wouldn’t have chosen her if she wasn’t.
Her key attribute is “the way she’s handled the issue of freedom of women’s bodies — their control over their bodies,” he said. Also she’s been a “helluva prosecutor. … She is qualified to be the president, that’s why I picked her.”
Israel’s Fault, Biden Says
In response to multiple questions about the nine-month war in Israel and Gaza, which Gaza's ruling Palestinian party Hamas initiated Oct. 7, 2023, with a brutal attack on Israeli civilians, Biden said he’s been negotiating with Arab states and Israel to broker a ceasefire.
He blamed Israel’s “conservative war cabinet” for the ongoing war, and said “there’s no other answer, other than a two-state solution here.”
Biden also said that Palestinian support for Hamas in the West Bank, which is governed by the less-zealous Palestinian party Fatah, is flagging.
The president derided the U.S. Supreme Court for being “conservative” and said Democracy is at risk.
A Little Conservative Chess
Meanwhile, some conservative pundits hope Biden stays in the race, saying it increases Trump’s odds of winning.
“He started off rough and he’s still having rough patches,” wrote Ben Shapiro, publisher emeritus of conservative news organization The Daily Wire. “But this is good enough to keep him in the race. Which is terrible news for Democrats and excellent news for Trump.”
Radio talk show host Clay Travis called the conference a “home run presser for Trump and the Republicans.”
He continued: “Joe Biden isn’t going to step down. The media were total (expletive) and didn’t ask tough questions, so they didn’t do their dirty work for them. Democrats are trapped.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
