He's Just Sundowning: Biden Admin Spins Debate Meltdown - While Family 'Oligarchy' Decides Fate

How bad must those Hur tapes be?

Following President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance on Thursday, the world saw that his cognitive decline isn't some right-wing conspiracy theory fueled by "cheapfakes" - and that the White House's desperate attempts to cover for Biden's obvious dementia were nothing more than propaganda.

It's so bad that the NY Times Editorial Board has called for Biden to quit the 2024 race.

It's so bad that the White House is now telling Axios that Biden is 'dependably engaged' between the hours of 10am to 4pm, and that outside of that range, he's 'more likely to have verbal miscues and become fatigued.'

In other words: he's sundowning hard.

Which would explain why he looked like he swapped out Hunter's Finest for his morning sugar at a mid-day rally on Friday, with no hint of a 'cold' we've been told explains his debate performance.

Yet, Biden will tune out calls to exit the race unless his 'kitchen cabinet' of lifelong family advisors counsels him to do so, Axios also reports.

Dave Smith explains during his debate recap:

According to Axios, "The only way President Biden steps aside, despite his debate debacle, is if the same small group of lifelong loyalists who enabled his run suddenly — and shockingly — decides it's time for him to call it quits."

Dr. Jill Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden; and 85-year-old Ted Kaufman, the president's longtime friend and constant adviser — plus a small band of White House advisers — are the only Biden deciders.

...

This decades-long kitchen cabinet operates as an extended family, council of elders and governing oligarchy. These allies alone hold sway over decisions big and small in Biden's life and presidency.

• The president engaged in no organized process outside his family in deciding to run for a second term, the N.Y. Times' Peter Baker reports.
• Then Biden alone made the decision, people close to him tell us.

According to the report, if Biden refuses to quit - it's because "He and the oligarchy believe he has a much better chance of being former President Trump than Vice President Harris does."

Additionally, Axios also notes that:

• Biden allies have played out the scenarios and see little chance of anyone besides Harris winning the nomination if he stepped aside.
• Is the Democratic Party going to deny the nomination to the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected V.P.? Hard to see.
• These allies privately think Harris would struggle to pull moderate and swing voters, and would enhance Trump's chances. (Harris "fares only one or two points worse than Biden in polls with margins of sampling error that are much larger than that," The Washington Post found.)

Meanwhile, Democratic congressional leaders are receiving panicked calls and texts from colleagues who think Biden's weakness could also cost the party House and Senate seats in November.

"This is no longer about Joe Biden's family or his emotions," said one adviser who's in 'constant touch' with the West Wing. "This is about our country. It's an utter f***ing disaster that has to be addressed."