President Joe Biden, who voted to invade Iraq, co-managed eight years of the war on terror as vice president, and concluded the United States’s 20-year occupation of Afghanistan by forcing a fatal and chaotic retreat, declined to deliver a live address this week commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
It’s probably best for everyone that he didn’t, considering his behavior this weekend in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It’s probably safe to assume a live address would’ve gone just as poorly as this visit.
The president met Saturday with members of the fire department that responded to the United 93 crash, which was brought down on Sept. 11 by passengers who rushed their hijackers.
During a brief interaction with the press, the president asserted the victims of the attacks would likely be confused and disappointed by the voters who don’t like him. Biden also complained there’s no use in trying to fight al Qaeda wherever it has a foothold, which is a hell of a thing to declare in Shanksville on Sept. 11.
White House staffers were wise to have the president release a brief, pre-taped statement on Friday commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 2001 attacks. While they’re at it, they should keep their boss away from all microphones and cameras until further notice.
“What I’m thinking about today is what these people who — and I’ve got a piece of — a small piece of one of the beams they have — they gave me last time — or not last time, but how many times ago — and the flag they gave me,” Biden told reporters Saturday in Shanksville, explaining how he plans to unify the country. “And I’m thinking of, you know, what — what — of the people who died, what would they be thinking? They think it makes sense for us to be in this kind of thing, where you ride down the street and someone has a sign saying ‘F so and so’? Or — it’s not who we are.”
The president was referring to protesters who greeted him this week in New Jersey with various profanities.
Later, when asked about his retreat from Afghanistan, Biden defended it, saying, “What’s the strategy? Every place where al Qaeda is we’re going to invade and have troops stay there? Come on.”
A reporter also asked Biden a broad, no-pressure question.
“Mr. President, what is going through your mind today, sir?” the reporter asked.
Biden could have answered this in any number of ways. He could have responded with something straightforward and to the point. He could have responded with something poetic, something with some flourishes. He could’ve given something moving, something from the heart. After all, “empathy” is his supposed superpower. What Biden offered instead was a complete mishmash of free-form stream of consciousness, jumping from one topic to the next, giving us a glimpse into what a live address likely would’ve looked like.
“I’m thinking about my — for real, this is my fourth trip here. And I was thinking about a guy named Davis Sezna that I grew up with, who, like a lot of people, are probably having a tough day today,” Biden responded. “He — I was sitting at home watching television in 2000 and — 2000, in September, and I was watching TV, and my kids were in the swimming pool just outside, and — and all of a sudden came on TV this guy sitting on a bank in the — on the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal.”
He added, “And he — and they said he just lost his son that ran into a beam that was coming up in the D&C Canal that had been there from another, I guess, dock. And his — he lost his 15-year-old son, Teddy. And he’s on the phone, and all of a sudden, my phone rings, and he’s calling me. It turned out to be my buddy, Davis Sezna, because he knew I had lost — anyway.”
Buckle up. There are roughly 700 more words to his response:
<bsp-quote data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1631465934401,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b0-de22-a173-2ffa3d100000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1631465934401,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b0-de22-a173-2ffa3d100000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"quote":"And then, a year later, I got a call. His son was on the 106th floor, and he lost his son. And they called him “Deeg.” He was Davis Jr. And so, it’s a tough day for him and everybody who’s lost somebody. And, you know, I know you’ve heard me say it before, and I’ll probably get criticized for saying it again, but these memorials are really important, but they’re also incredibly difficult for the people who were affected by them — because it brings back the moment you got the phone call. It brings back that instant you got the news, no matter how many years go by. So I’ve been thinking about him. I’ve been thinking of all the people I was — when I was down at the rock, talking to a number of family members who lost somebody. You know, think about it — talk about genuine heroism. I’m not talking about any — I’m not talking about the news media now. But think of all of you, if you’re on that plane, knowing two terrorists are in the cockpit. How many would say, “I got a good idea: Let’s go up and rush that cabin”? Even though you knew that probably they were going to do something and you were going to lose anyway. But it’s one thing to say, “I know I should step up,” and another thing to do it. That’s genuine heroism. That’s not “on the margins.” That’s not “maybe you did a heroi-…” I mean, you know. And I just — I just think — I thought that President Bush made a really good speech today — genuinely good speech — about who we are. We’re not — the core of who we are is not divided. It’s just this notion of — I don’t know how to explain it. I think, Jeff, I talked to you a little about this. I think the real issue for those kids that — just had a picture taken with — couple of them had Trump hats from last year — I think, for them, it’s going to be: Are we going to, in the next 4, 5, 6, 10 years, demonstrate that democracies can work, or not? Because I had — just had a long — I’m not going to discuss with you now, but I had a long conversation with President Xi for over an hour and a half — not last night; the night before last. And I’ve had that one-on-one summit with Putin. And I’ve spoken with others. There’s a lot of autocrats who truly believe that democracies can’t function in the 21st century. Not a joke.
They think because the world is changing so rapidly and people are so divided, you can’t bring people together in a democracy to get a consensus, and the only ones that are going to be able to succeed are the autocrats. That’s why it’s so damn important we demonstrate — everybody says, “Biden, why do you keep insisting on trying to bring the country together?” That’s the thing that’s going to affect our wellbeing more than anything else: how the rest of the world responds to us — knowing that we actually can, in fact, lead by the example of our power again. And I think we can do it. We got to do it. And so it’s all tied. And meeting with these people — you know, I know you’re all tired of hearing me say, you know — a lot of good folks on Wall Street, but they didn’t build the country. Hardworking middle-class folks built this country, and the unions built the middle class. It’s about time we start showing them some real respect again. And that’s why I’m hopeful. I know a lot of you think I’m just always too optimistic, but I think we’re going to get major pieces of legislation through, both on a bipartisan basis, and I think we’re going to get something done consequentially — consequential on the whole issue of dealing with human infrastructure. And we do that — it’s more than just how it’s going to grow the economy in an exponential way near-term, but the rest of the world is going, “Whoa. How did he do that? I thought they didn’t talk to each other.” Anyway, you asked what I was thinking. That’s what I’ve been thinking about today.","_id":"0000017b-daf2-df48-a5ff-dff769150000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b92f10002"}”>And then, a year later, I got a call. His son was on the 106th floor, and he lost his son. And they called him “Deeg.” He was Davis Jr. And so, it’s a tough day for him and everybody who’s lost somebody. And, you know, I know you’ve heard me say it before, and I’ll probably get criticized for saying it again, but these memorials are really important, but they’re also incredibly difficult for the people who were affected by them — because it brings back the moment you got the phone call. It brings back that instant you got the news, no matter how many years go by. So I’ve been thinking about him. I’ve been thinking of all the people I was — when I was down at the rock, talking to a number of family members who lost somebody. You know, think about it — talk about genuine heroism. I’m not talking about any — I’m not talking about the news media now. But think of all of you, if you’re on that plane, knowing two terrorists are in the cockpit. How many would say, “I got a good idea: Let’s go up and rush that cabin”? Even though you knew that probably they were going to do something and you were going to lose anyway. But it’s one thing to say, “I know I should step up,” and another thing to do it. That’s genuine heroism. That’s not “on the margins.” That’s not “maybe you did a heroi-…” I mean, you know. And I just — I just think — I thought that President Bush made a really good speech today — genuinely good speech — about who we are. We’re not — the core of who we are is not divided. It’s just this notion of — I don’t know how to explain it. I think, Jeff, I talked to you a little about this. I think the real issue for those kids that — just had a picture taken with — couple of them had Trump hats from last year — I think, for them, it’s going to be: Are we going to, in the next 4, 5, 6, 10 years, demonstrate that democracies can work, or not? Because I had — just had a long — I’m not going to discuss with you now, but I had a long conversation with President Xi for over an hour and a half — not last night; the night before last. And I’ve had that one-on-one summit with Putin. And I’ve spoken with others. There’s a lot of autocrats who truly believe that democracies can’t function in the 21st century. Not a joke.
They think because the world is changing so rapidly and people are so divided, you can’t bring people together in a democracy to get a consensus, and the only ones that are going to be able to succeed are the autocrats. That’s why it’s so damn important we demonstrate — everybody says, “Biden, why do you keep insisting on trying to bring the country together?” That’s the thing that’s going to affect our wellbeing more than anything else: how the rest of the world responds to us — knowing that we actually can, in fact, lead by the example of our power again. And I think we can do it. We got to do it. And so it’s all tied. And meeting with these people — you know, I know you’re all tired of hearing me say, you know — a lot of good folks on Wall Street, but they didn’t build the country. Hardworking middle-class folks built this country, and the unions built the middle class. It’s about time we start showing them some real respect again. And that’s why I’m hopeful. I know a lot of you think I’m just always too optimistic, but I think we’re going to get major pieces of legislation through, both on a bipartisan basis, and I think we’re going to get something done consequentially — consequential on the whole issue of dealing with human infrastructure. And we do that — it’s more than just how it’s going to grow the economy in an exponential way near-term, but the rest of the world is going, “Whoa. How did he do that? I thought they didn’t talk to each other.” Anyway, you asked what I was thinking. That’s what I’ve been thinking about today.Good Lord. I can see why the White House went with a pre-taped address.
This type of rambling, tortuous answer is something one would expect from former President Donald Trump. What’s disconcerting here is that Trump has always spoken in long-winded, meandering asides. It’s his style. Biden hasn’t. The president used to be sharp, polished even.
To say the man has lost his edge would be a bit of an understatement.
After Shanksville, it’s probably safe to say we’re all better for the president declining to address the nation live on the 20th anniversary of the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor.
