While preparing to deliver remarks shortly after the murders of six people (three adults and three children) at the Covenant School in Nashville, TN, President Biden committed that most grievous of political sins: treating tragedy with brevity. From gags about his role in the White House to cheerfully expressing his well-known penchant for ice cream, Biden failed to read the room.
Teleprompter Joe
Appearing at the 2023 Women’s Business Summit in the East Room on Monday afternoon, the president began his remarks by making a series of what many might consider inappropriate jokes:
“My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband … I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs. You think I’m kidding? I’m not.”
He then turned to the well-worn script on gun violence in what appeared to be a last-minute teleprompter insert. While the president may be faulted for a tone-deaf attitude in the wake of tragedy, his speechwriters deserve their “fair share” of the blame. Much like Anchorman character Ron Burgundy, Biden will read whatever is put in front of him, up to and including stage directions. But critics suggest that this latest gaffe was beyond such simple slips of the pre-prepared playbook.
Biden bookended his remarks with yet more focus on ice cream, saying, “If I were allowed to take you upstairs, you got a whole freezer full of Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream … You know it’s pretty dull when you’ve been in public life as long as I have, and you’re known for two things: chocolate chip ice cream and Ray-Bans sunglasses, but what the hell.”
No Room for Jokes
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – who, despite not yet officially announcing, has made serious overtures about a presidential run of his own – took center stage in the criticism of President Biden. He said:
“To say that he misunderstood the moment would be an understatement. You know, the president is watching, you’d hope before he comes down there, the awful scenes from the shooting and the reactions of family members and friends of people in that school. And to be coming down, joking about the fact that he’s Jill Biden’s husband and looking for chocolate chip ice cream is hardly the way to start it.”
“And so there’s no room to joke in that circumstance at all. And certainly not from the President of the United States,” he concluded.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Biden and the Silent Media
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the left-wing media once again failed to report on President Biden’s gaffes. While digital column inches galore were dedicated to noting his remarks on gun violence and further calls for an “assault weapons ban,” his wildly inappropriate joking was absent from reportage.
When Biden became president, he was lauded as the “anti-Trump,” a leader with empathy and compassion. In fact, such adjectives were key in defining his persona as president. The press argues that he may be a gaffe machine; he may not “appear” as sharp as others, but “he cares.”
Where was that empathy yesterday? Where was the supposed saving grace of a president who has arguably made the wrong choice on almost every issue of import? “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,” wrote Percy Shelley in his short poem “Ozymandias.” What remains, indeed?
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