In the case of the secret papers, much is still unclear, but one thing is certain: there is a clear difference between the finds in the estate of Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago and the finds in the office and garage of Joe Biden. Republican Trump took home about 300 classified documents with him, including 60 top secret documents, and according to initial findings and statements, Democrat Biden appears to have fewer than a dozen.
There is a striking difference in cooperation with the authorities: while Trump wants to interfere with the investigation by all means and calls it a political witch hunt, Biden immediately agreed to cooperate in clarifying the case.
But these differences mean little at the moment. It’s about the principle. Biden just pointed the finger at Trump and said that such a mistake could never happen to him. Biden called Trump’s handling of the papers last year “irresponsible.”
Now his clean image is scratched. Or is this – apart from the linguistic breaks and the error in the garden – further evidence that the 80-year-old president no longer has clarity in his head?
The discovery of classified documents came at the most inopportune moment for Biden. He is expected to announce soon whether he intends to run for president again. His support has risen again in recent months after a period of drought. This is evidenced by the results of the November 8 midterm elections and polls.
But Biden lost his hard-earned bonus in one fell swoop. The case with secret documents and his absurd answer that the garage is locked, spur the Republicans. Forgotten the embarrassment that her Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House of Representatives last week after only 15 rounds. Trump’s chances for re-election are growing.
What can Democrats do? There is only one thing: Biden must disclose as quickly as possible what documents got to his house and how, and hope that these are non-essential papers. This is his only chance to get his shoe out of the mess and show he’s different from Trump.