What if Biden really can’t anymore? Chechen ruler Kadyrov speaks of offensive – the nightly update

One of the more unsavory aspects of the US political debate was Nikki Haley’s statement about Joe Biden a few weeks ago. In an interview with Fox News, the South Carolina Republican and presidential candidate said, “I think we can all say very clearly and factually that whoever votes for Joe Biden is actually expecting a President Harris. Because I don’t think he’s going to be 86 years old. will get.” It was the most blunt assumption yet about a possible imminent death of Joe Biden.

Nikki Haley was the US Ambassador to the United Nations in New York under Donald Trump. Now she is running against her former sponsor and wants to become president herself. For that to succeed, however, she would first need to defeat Trump in the 2023 Republican primary and then win against Joe Biden in 2024.

It all seems a long way off, but Haley is already shooting sharply by criticizing the health and age of the incumbent. What sounds like ageism has long been the majority opinion in the US. More than 60 percent of Americans think Joe Biden is too old for a second term.

The Democrats, however, hold back their own displeasure for fear of harming their own candidate and rely on the principle of hope. It is a situation that, if there are no preparations for a calamity, can quickly become quite difficult. After all, it could not only cost Joe Biden the presidency, but also deny other Democratic candidates access to the White House.

Joe Biden’s recent fall from his Colorado Springs speaker’s platform brings this often-repressed reality back to the media. It doesn’t seem to matter if a hapless sandbag was the cause, Joe Biden’s clumsiness, or both together.

What if the US president were “unfit for office”, ie no longer able to perform his duties due to health reasons? What if “Sleepy Joe,” as his detractors like to mock him, really doesn’t wake up one day?

Asking these questions without becoming disrespectful is one of the clear weaknesses of the Democrats. Theoretically, there is always the possibility of sudden death, especially with increasing age. Also, when Donald Trump fell ill with Covid-19 during his presidency and had to be hospitalized, countless articles were written about the question, “What happens when the president dies?”

In such a worst-case scenario, the consequences in the case of Joe Biden would be dramatic for Democrats in the current term. As vice president, the hitherto hapless Kamala Harris would then have to be sworn in until the end of her term as president of the US. This is governed by the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, which clearly states what happens if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office.

In Washington, the question is whether Harris’s long-recognizable foibles will disappear overnight. Without enough identifiable support in her own party, a mudslide could ensue that would hurt not only Harris as the 2024 presidential candidate, but her eventual challengers and, in turn, the Democrats as a whole.

If the unthinkable happened in the middle of the upcoming election campaign, a possible failure of Joe Biden would also be a political catastrophe for the Democrats. Everything in the party is now clearly tailored to him as president. The fundraisers started a long time ago. With the exception of candidates with few prospects, potential alternatives have so far had no opportunity to attract attention or even make themselves half known in this great country.

Given the real possibility of the death of a US president, the Democrats currently seem extremely ill-prepared, at least officially. The United States has at least some experience of the deaths of its heads of state: a total of eight presidents have died in office.

The first was William Henry Harrison in 1841. The last was John F. Kennedy in 1963. His then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson even managed to get re-elected. In fact, it became the biggest win in American history as measured by votes.

However, it is unrealistic to believe that the Democrats would be completely unprepared if the worst were to happen. In a way, the Democrats’ booming silence about Joe Biden’s age parallels the period this year when he has yet to officially announce his renewed will to run.

Even then, in the teams of possible alternative candidates such as California Governor Gavin Newsom or Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the motto was always: “be prepared”. Publicly disseminating such a willingness, however, would only harm 80-year-old Joe Biden as a candidate.

If the worst came to the worst and Joe Biden died in office, other candidates would step forward. And if the Republicans end up with Donald Trump (76), who is only four years younger than him, the Democrats will have an advantage over a presumably significantly younger person, which has been the case with their opponents so far. A new face always means an opportunity.

How much of a fighter Joe Biden is when it comes to health has been proven multiple times. For example, he has already undergone two operations on a brain aneurysm in his life.

To allay the great doubts of the population, the president should demonstrate his suitability to the public during election campaigns.

Such incidents in Colorado Springs have so far ended with minor health problems for Biden. They remain a major burden on his campaign and the party.

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(t online)