Battenfeld: Hypocrites’ night at the Democratic National Convention
It’s hypocrites’ night at the Democratic National Convention, where delegates and officials who ruthlessly pushed Joe Biden out of the race are anointing him the greatest president of modern times.
DNC leaders put Biden and other unwelcome guests like Jill Biden and Hillary Clinton on the first, low visibility night of the love fest to get them out of the way and put as much distance as possible between them and Kamala Harris’s coronation.
But it will still prove to be an awkward night just looking at the enfeebled president and 2016 loser Clinton, neither of whom wants to leave the stage.
It will be a little like the scene in “Wolf of Wall Street” where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character declares “I’m not (expletive) leaving!” as his underlings cheer him on.
Biden is reported to be still resentful with his treatment by the party and Harris’s swift ascent to celebrated presidential nominee to replace him.
And what are the others thinking for real? Will Jill Biden be repulsed by the thought of Harris taking her husband’s rightful spot? Is Hillary thinking that should be me up there instead of Harris? Will Tim Walz do his step dancing routine on stage?
Instead Democrats are opening the convention with a public demonstration of the knife-stabbing tactics of the party.
Democrats talk a lot about saving democracy, but there’s nothing democratic about what they did with Joe Biden, shamefully yanking him out of the race in a cold-hearted power grab with no regard to his tenure.
Now they give him the obligatory pat on the back for a night and clear him off the stage to make way for Kamala.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Harris come out on the stage herself, giving Joe a big hug and escorting him off to oblivion.
Democrats want to make the week long show a big celebration of Harris, so they’ll put her out there as soon as possible.
But you wonder whether Biden or other Democrats are having second thoughts about him quitting. It will always be an open question, especially if Harris loses to Donald Trump.
Biden is going out under a cloud as Republicans unveiled impeachment charges on Monday that found Biden and his family got a $27 million haul from foreign governments while he was vice president.
The 292-page report – largely ignored by the media still enthralled with Harris’s coronation – details how Biden “abused his office” and “defrauded the United States to enrich his family” by accepting millions to influence the government.