On Thursday, President Biden flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, to meet with the families of the law enforcement officers recently killed in a shootout. That’s good; that’s the kind of thing a president ought to do, and kudos to whatever anonymous staffer got this on the schedule because it’s unlikely in the extreme that the befuddled president thought of this on his own. It’s showing leadership, something the Biden administration hasn’t been particularly good at, and as the political saying goes, the optics are good.

But the optics of the president’s arrival in Charlotte? Not so good.

Biden descends the short stairs after arriving in North Carolina — as a Secret Service agent quickly follows behind to make sure he doesn’t trip.

He takes zero questions. pic.twitter.com/cMT9bRg7yf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 2, 2024

The president, at least, managed to make it down the short stairs (I will forgo the obvious “short bus” comparison), and, to be fair, the Secret Service agent mentioned wasn’t hovering over him, instead trotting quickly down the stairs some moments after the president’s slower, rather halting descent.

But then this happened:

Biden looks lost and confused after touching down in Charlotte — holding onto the mayor’s hand for dear life pic.twitter.com/0ZQBleyoJp

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 2, 2024

Look at these optics! The president is clearly confused; he is clinging to Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles’ hand like a lost child. He seems to have little idea where he is or what he is supposed to do next.

This is not an elderly man with a poor memory. This is a man whose physical and mental decline can no longer be denied.

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Will the president make it to the election? Will he make it to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago? If he does, how will he react to the likely replay of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also in Chicago? It’s looking increasingly doubtful. It’s no wonder the polls are, daily, looking worse for the president.

Whoever is propping Joe Biden up is committing elder abuse. Joe Biden was never the sharpest knife in the drawer to being with, but now his decline can no longer be denied. Every day brings another embarrassing example of his decline. There’s no way the Democrats can let him go on to the election — not if they hold out any hope at all of retaining their hold on the White House.

If Joe Biden is forced out of the race – or I should say, his handlers are forced out of the race, as more and more of the time Joe has very little idea what’s really going on – it will almost certainly be at the Democratic National Convention, where a smoke-filled room deal can be made, where Kamala Harris can be quietly shown the door, probably by being bought off with a fat patronage position, and someone younger (which leaves the field wide, wide open) could be anointed at the candidate – which still leaves that new candidate with little time to get their message out.

It’s come to the point where the only thing more embarrassing for us as a nation than having Joe Biden as president would be to have him win reelection.

This seems appropriate.