Knives are out as Biden drops out of presidential race

OPINION:

Another hoax has been exposed. Democrats and their enablers in the media gushed about President Biden’s vitality. They downplayed his frequent stumbles while concealing the truth from the public.

On Sunday, Mr. Biden finally came clean. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection,” he wrote, “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

Months ago, the White House physician certified Mr. Biden was in top shape, describing him as a “healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male.”

That was a lie, and it fooled a significant number. According to an Associated Press poll in February, 37% of the public at large expressed confidence in the commander in chief’s mental acuity. Among Democrats, 3 in 4 essentially said, “He’s fine.”

But honest observers began noting bizarre behavior years ago. Defenders deflected, saying the gaffes were examples of “stuttering.” In a 2019 primary debate, former Obama Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro zeroed in on Mr. Biden’s memory lapses, but Mr. Biden still secured the nomination. The party took advantage of COVID to excuse Mr. Biden from campaigning, lessening the risk of anyone noticing something was amiss.

Once in office, Mr. Biden wasn’t on the job full time. This suggests staff and possibly family have at times assumed executive duties in his stead. Most recently, Hunter Biden became presidential gatekeeper as members of Congress began pressuring the president to step aside in the November election.

And it is that pressure that resulted in Sunday’s decision to exit the presidential race. Democratic lawmakers and the billionaires who fund the Democratic National Committee delivered an ultimatum in an increasingly public campaign to expel the elected leader of their party.

This wasn’t a sudden conversion to the virtue of truth-telling on their part. It was a sudden realization that the incumbent was likely to lose every battleground state.

Although Mr. Biden passed the campaign torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, many of these same party elites are now scheming in smoke-filled backrooms to replace her as well.

Ms. Harris was never the choice of the Democratic faithful. She ended her presidential bid with the support of just 3% of primary voters, according to polls at the time. Ms. Harris, however, now holds the ultimate trump card.

At any moment, she can convene a meeting of the Cabinet to vote on declaring Mr. Biden unfit for office under the 25th Amendment, succeeding him in an acting capacity should a majority of the top agency heads agree with her assessment. The question would go to Congress only if the president insisted on staying.

No Republican could in good faith go on the record affirming Mr. Biden’s fitness.

While this move would guarantee Ms. Harris only six months as president, that would still be more than William Henry Harrison, who held the title for a month before dying of pneumonia. Becoming the incumbent would help Ms. Harris make the case she deserves a shot at a full term.

That’s an uphill battle as long as Democrats are divided and unfocused. Republicans, by contrast, have rallied behind former President Donald Trump in the wake of his death-defying performance in Pennsylvania.

Next month’s Democratic convention in Chicago just became a lot more interesting.