Newsom: Biden 'Big Winner' in GOP Debate, But Not for the Reason You Might Think
Political pundits love sports metaphors, and none so much as wondering who the “backup QB” to President Joe Biden might be if, you know, he keeps looking like Joe Biden.
When Kamala Harris took the No. 2 position on the ticket in 2020, everyone knew that the pick came with higher stakes. In fact, people would openly speculate that, if Biden were elected, he would gracefully step aside and leave the party in her capable hands. Instead, this was the draft bust that they got:
The Vice President thinks the border crisis is a hilarious joke. pic.twitter.com/e3SA3JdfKa
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 8, 2021
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg? He’s been a bit of a wash, too. Michelle Obama? Please. The woman can barely sell her biographies, much less sell America on her being president.
Which leaves us, sadly, to the “backup QB” of the moment: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The man, whose looks and demeanor oft draw comparisons to “American Psycho” protagonist Patrick Bateman and who has overseen fentanyl, border and homelessness crises of massive proportions, is seen as the fallback option for a party that’s run out of them.
On Wednesday, however, the governor proved yet again why “Make America California Already” probably isn’t a slogan you’ll be hearing candidate Newsom touting on the campaign trail anytime this year.
The big happening in California on Wednesday, of course, was the second GOP presidential debate, sans front-runner Donald Trump, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
To be frank, the two-hour affair was a bit of a snoozefest — but pretty much every candidate on stage, up to and including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who had to flail his arms about to get any attention, made a better showing of themselves than our senescent president.
But not to Gov. Newsom. Oh, no. To him, “objectively, [Biden] was the winner tonight.”
Why? Because the Republicans on stage identified his problems. Seriously.
Newsom: Objectively Biden was a winner tonight. No doubt about it. They identified problems and Biden has not only identified solutions, he’s gotten bipartisan deals to begin the process of implementing them. pic.twitter.com/lElzjag2Cv
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 28, 2023
“These guys identified problems,” Newsom said in an interview with Fox Business Network after the debate.
“Biden has not only identified solutions, he’s gotten bipartisan deals to begin the process of implementing those solutions.”
And just in case you didn’t get the idea: “I thought Biden, honestly was the big winner tonight.”
Just to be clear, this is the guy that Biden’s re-election team sent out to the debate to counter what it called “extreme rhetoric” from the right, according to The Hill. That extreme rhetoric? Pointing out the problems America faces. You know, the problems largely created under Joe Biden’s administration.
And Biden, Newsom said, has identified solutions. Which are the same solutions that have created the problems in the first place.
Inflation and the economy: problems identified not infrequently on stage. Biden has a solution: “Bidenomics,” which caused the inflation.
Illegal immigration: a problem, again, identified not infrequently on stage. Biden has a solution: granting work permits to roughly half a million Venezuelans who crossed the border illegally before July 31, something he definitely won’t ever do again and which definitely won’t serve as a perverse incentive for even more migrants to make the trek to the southern border. Please read that last sentence in the spirit of dripping sarcasm that it was written with.
China’s rising military strength and bellicosity toward Washington: another problem the Republicans identified. Biden may have a solution to this, sorta, I think. It probably involves shooting down Beijing’s spy balloons after they’ve crossed over the majority of the continental United States. Let’s, you know, ignore that one.
Fentanyl: another problem that came up frequently from the stage Wednesday night. The Biden administration doesn’t even plan to secure the border or seriously confront China over production of the synthetic opioid. Again, let’s skip it.
The war in Ukraine: another problem blah blah blah. The Biden administration’s solution: pour money into the situation and hope it doesn’t turn into a hot war between Russia and NATO.
You get the idea.
But the big winner, according to Gavin Newsom, was Joe Biden. You know why? The seven candidates up on stage could only identify the problems that Joe Biden has created and propose their own solutions, whereas Biden has already proposed solutions to them! Which just so happen to be … the same basic “solutions” that created the problem in the first place.
In short, Dems, this is not your No. 2 guy.
So, how about Amy Klobuchar? She doing anything useful these days? Could she be the next de facto “backup QB” to our failing president? Or is she too busy eating a salad with a comb to comment?
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