When you’re a Democrat president and the talking heads over at NBC’s “Meet the Press” are blasting your performance, you know things are bad. While not as reliably uber-liberal as its sister channel, MSNBC, the Peacock can usually be relied upon to tout leftist talking points.
But on Sunday, panelists on the talk show ripped Joe Biden for his attempts to portray “Bidenomics” as a success, his refusal to discuss his son Hunter’s legal troubles, his unwillingness to talk about former President Donald Trump, and his reluctance to deal with the issue of his age.
WATCH: @jmart tells the #MTP panel that Pres. Biden has three issues where he “hasn’t figured out what to say.”
➡️ Questions about Hunter Biden
➡️ Investigations into former President Trump
➡️ His age“Those are three massive issues that are clouding his re-election campaign.” pic.twitter.com/6gRylLLnMe
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 20, 2023
Hoover Institution fellow Lanhee Chen said he was “confused” about the “Bidenomics” message:
You’re trying to convince people of something, you’re trying to convince people their own impressions about the economy are wrong. And so, if you look, for example, at how Hispanic and Black voters feel about the economy, they’ll tell you it stinks.
Now they can keep saying, “but we have the CHIPS Act, but we have the IRA,” at the end of the day, you can’t convince someone that they’re feeling, how they’re feeling about the economy is wrong. And that’s what this election is going to come down to. And I get they’re trying to present a proactive message but at the end of the day, it’s very difficult I think to do that when people feel, they simply feel differently.
The reason Biden’s economic message isn’t selling is simply because crushing inflation has hammered our pocketbooks. You can lay much of the blame for that squarely at the feet of the president and his out-of-control spending on bloated bills like the Inflation Reduction Act.
Boston Globe opinion writer Kimberly Atkins Stohr, meanwhile, slammed the president for keeping mum on the investigation into Hunter:
It’s leaving a massive vacuum, and look, it’s not just that he can talk about the justice system as president. I know the people around him are very skittish about him doing that. It’s that he must.
He’s also a candidate for president, and he has to admit one of the starkest differences between the Republicans and him is that he defends the rule of law, that he defends the justice system and with his son in the middle of it, that’s a perfect opportunity to say, look, I love my son, but I also trust the justice system and I know in the end the right result will come about and all Americans should have that same faith in that system.
He keeps missing that opportunity.
As I reported Friday, aides are too scared to even bring up the First Son around the president:
Report: Biden Obsesses Over Coverage of Hunter, Aides Afraid to Even Mention the Prodigal Son
Politico’s Jonathan Martin lit into the president for his silence on three big issues:
The Biden staff can even get to the president about the issue because they don’t want to address a sensitive topic with the president. They’ve got a challenge.
Chuck, I think Biden has basically got three issues where he’s not figured out what to say. One is obviously the questions about Hunter Biden, his son and the other is what to say about the investigations into Donald Trump and the third is about his age. Those are three issues that are clouding his reelection campaign.
Not even host Chuck Todd could paint Biden’s performance in a sunny light:
This stuff has taken a huge toll on him…
His numbers look more like Hillary Clinton in ’16 than Biden ’20.
When Chuck Todd can’t defend Biden, things have definitely gone off the rails.
See also:
Chucked Aside? Todd out as ‘Meet the Press’ Host
‘Pattern of Deception’: James Comer Gives Update on the Quest to Uncover Biden Family Corruption
