Absurd deepstate theory
Republicans suspect a conspiracy behind Biden’s gaffes – to make Michelle Obama president
This week, a series of misfires raised questions about the mental state of US President Joe Biden
© Andrew Harnik/ / Picture Alliance
Recently, US President Joe Biden has made a few mistakes – thereby fueling the debate about his age. Republicans don’t want to believe it’s a coincidence. A lieutenant governor even publicly suspects a conspiracy.
Slips of the tongue happen quickly. At US President Joe Biden, however, they have been increasing significantly lately. In the last few days alone, he has confused French President Macron with his predecessor Mitterand, who died in 1996, and confused Egypt with Mexico. He provides his political opponents with so much material for their claim that, at 81, he is too old to run for president again. Their suspicion: There must be a conspiracy behind it.
This is what the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick is currently claiming on the short message service X, formerly known as Twitter. His argument: If the White House wanted to protect Biden from himself, they would only let him give prepared speeches. A press conference with questions is therefore a targeted trap – to introduce Biden. “They fed him to the press,” Patrick says with conviction.
Joe Biden and the deep state
In his opinion, “you” is not just anyone. But the infamous “deep state”, the state behind the state, which, according to the Republican conspiracy myths, has the real power and pulls the strings from the background. The leader, according to Patrick, is former President Barack Obama. And he has only one goal in publicly humiliating Biden: to pave the way for his wife Michelle to the White House.
“I have been saying for over a year that it is not Joe Biden who will run, but Michelle Obama who is the most likely candidate,” says Patrick confidently. “The deep state under Barack Obama’s control knows full well that they have to take him out to have a chance in November.” Biden should cut himself off. The plan is to make him seem like a likeable old man who means well – but has an increasingly bad memory. The embarrassment should then make Biden so unelectable that he could be replaced.
Obama for President?
In fact, the misfires of the last few weeks had actually damaged Biden’s reputation, often even from the perspective of the Democrats. A special counsel report acquitted Biden of various allegations of criminal behavior that Republicans had accused him of. However, he emphasized that Biden is increasingly having memory problems. In a press conference, the president wanted to avoid this impression – and then claimed to have spoken to the president of Mexico about opening the border to the Gaza Strip.
The next misfire followed on Wednesday at a charity event: Biden told how he had exchanged ideas with Chancellor Helmut Kohl about Donald Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims. At that point, Angela Merkel was Chancellor – and Kohl had already died three years ago. Accordingly, there is increasing discussion in the USA about whether Biden is really suitable for a second term in office.
However, it seems unlikely that Michelle Obama, of all people, will benefit from this. There have been considerations for years as to whether she could become the first female US president – after all, she is extremely popular in the Democratic camp. However, the former first lady had repeatedly emphasized her disinterest in a presidential campaign. Even Republicans don’t necessarily believe in it. Republican strategist Karl Rove, who is considered the architect of George W-Bush’s presidency, recently called the idea “pure madness.”
Sources:Twitter, The Guardian, The Independent , The Hill