Biden killed off his own presidential campaign on Thursday night

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Joe Biden effectively ended his presidential re-election campaign Thursday night.

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Biden spoke with reporters at the White House after a damning report which questioned his memory and ability to recall facts. It was a disaster.

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In trying to convince the world that his memory is just fine, Biden had an argumentative news conference with the media and then spoke about how Mexico’s president wouldn’t open the border with Gaza.

The strange thing is, the report wasn’t an evaluation about Biden’s neurological health, it was the special prosecutor’s report into Biden taking classified documents with him when he left office as vice-president in early 2017. Just as Trump did when he left the White House, Biden took files with him when he departed his second term as vice-president, but the special counsel appointed to investigate recommended not charging Biden because a jury would be unlikely to convict.

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“Mr. Biden will likely present himself to the jury, as he did during his interview with our office, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the report said.

On Thursday night, Biden presented himself to Americans, during a prime-time news conference carried on live TV, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.

“I think, as you know initially, the president of Mexico, El-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate,” Biden said referring to the Rafah Gate that connects Gaza to Egypt.

It’s the third time this week that Biden has done that.

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At a Wednesday event in New York, Biden was telling a story about how former German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked him about the 2020 election, but he said it was Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017. On Sunday, he confused French President Emanuel Macron with the late president Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996.

“How bad is your memory?” was the second question Biden got.

“My memory is so bad I let you speak,” he replied to the journalist, sounding argumentative.

It wasn’t the only time.

The knock against Biden isn’t that he’s 81 — he’ll be 82 just after the next election, it’s that he’s not up to the job anymore. This isn’t a question of ageism, it is a question about competency and many more Americans will have those questions after this report and this news conference than had them at the start of the week.

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There has been a whisper campaign among Democrats about Biden’s mental state and abilities for more than a year now. There have been countless stories written about who could replace Biden as the nominee and, hint, it’s not generally thought that Vice-President Kamala Harris would be the pick.

When it comes to communicating a message, Harris makes Biden look like he hasn’t lost a step. She is hopeless at delivering a speech, at putting forward a policy, and Democrats, like most Americans, have not warmed to her.

Obvious choices like California Governor Gavin Newsom have said they aren’t interested in the job, that Biden is the nominee, which is what any candidate says until the job opens up.

Other names that have been floated include New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the leaders of the far-left faction known as The Squad. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s name has been mentioned, as has Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

But the only one likely to have the star power to take on Trump, who will win the Republican nomination, is Newsom. The problem for Newsom is that his popularity in California has taken a beating with his approval rating sinking even as he becomes more popular nationally.

That would likely change in a general election, and he might be able to battle Trump for swing voters looking for a change.

Bottom line, after Thursday, the idea of swapping Biden out for a new candidate is an idea that has new life, unlike the current president.

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