I Can't Put My Finger On It - But The Events Of The Past Few Days Are Very Suspect To Me.....

[global1]

almost like this was a sabotage job to completely flip this race 180 degrees.

And it seems that many Dems are falling for it and as a result - shooting the Party in the foot in the process. It seems that many in the MSM were just waiting to pounce - along with many Dem leaders.

And lo and behold - the Repugs and MAGA's can just sit back and take in the aftermath without having to fuel this fire - like you know they could.

I wish I could express what I'm suspecting - but I can't. But I do have this feeling that somebody, somewhere, somehow - set a plan in motion for this to happen.

It's just all fallen into place so easily and we're left with the person that should be dropping out of the race - because he's a criminal, treasonous, convicted felon - and he's the one that the media and the American Electorate should be calling him to drop out of the race.

The honest guy. The one who since he took over the Presidency has done so much good for this nation is being unfairly forced to have to defend himself over a 90 minute forced debate format - that allowed a consummate liar an advantage because one can't debate a liar and a barrage of lies.

I really question many of the Dem Party leaders calling for Biden to drop out of the race - when they really should be calling for the criminal, treasonous, convicted felon to be the one to drop out.

It's like we've fallen for a sinister trap set for the Dems and Biden - that doesn't resemble what the reality of this situation should be.

Does anyone else out there in DU land have similar suspicions. Where we somehow set up and this was a very well planned and contrived hit job?

[LuckyCharms]

1. You've expressed my feelings that I wasn't able to put into words..

Something is fucked up here, but I can't yet identify it.

Good post.

[global1]

4. Even If You Listen To The Banter About This Whole Thing On MSNBC....

the talk and suggestions being made by those that want Biden to drop out - just seems out of sorts as well.

If this immunity thing with SCOTUS goes to the favor of Tr**p - I'll really be suspect - that something is going on behind the scenes that we're just not privy to.

And all along - Tr**p - like the Eddie Haskell character - seems to be skating by smugly with a knowing smirk on his face.

[allegorical oracle]

100. We just have to stay calm and clear-headed. Like you, have been having unusual (for me)

thoughts of an actual conspiracy at work. The trial delays, the consistently questionable SCOTUS rulings, the immovable and insolent remarks from Repug members of Congress, the lockstep allegiance to TFG, the media both-siderisms.

Perhaps we suffer from information overload? Or should we believe our lyin' eyes?

[mitch96]

21. To me this stinks of putin/kgb/fsb. No proof just the smell is familiar. nt

[raccoon]

74. FSB?

[think4yourself]

77. Formerly known as KGB

[mitch96]

79. ruskie spy agency

Federal Security Service (FSB), Russian internal security and counterintelligence service created in 1994 as one of the successor agencies of the Soviet-era KGB. It is responsible for counterintelligence along with the GRU..
Lots of acronyms..
m

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service

[Codifer]

30. I am feeling the same.

Something shadowy and vague and evil.

For these bastards it is all or nothing at this point. They will win or be hung.

Put nothing past them.

[Eyeball_Kid]

50. The temptation to go conspiratorial is strong.

... like, "what went into Biden's dinner on Thursday night?

But that's the wrong approach, for a number of reasons. The best way to look at the debate is that it was a one-off. Stuff happens.

My better view is this: Biden got even more tongue-tied than would be expected because 1. He had an infection that affected his thinking process and his vocal chords, and 2. he's barely able to control his rage at the gall Trump has in simply appearing on the same stage as he, and part of the appearance of hesitation was Biden's holding back his emotions. Trump garners more hatred from his non-supporters the more he's on the public airwaves. Most of us are fed up with his con artist act and his lies. Just fed up. And Biden, IMO, is no different.

[Codifer]

54. The design was simple and calculated.

tsf had one task. He was to deliver a non-stop blast of bullshit that no one could respond to.

I wish that he had been fact checked in real time by the moderators.

That is the nuts and bolts of it for the debate. For the election and the on-going coup; my feeling is valid. There is some serious shit yet to be seen. Evil shit.

[judy]

113. Like slipping Biden something into his tea...

The thought has occurred to me...it was weird the way he was so under the weather, and then got better as time went on, as if a medication was wearing off...I do not nurture conspiracy theories, but I would not put it past them. With the help of the so called Supreme Court, the Republicans extremists are railroading us to a dictatorhip.

[bamagal62]

43. I totally agree.

[PeaceWave]

48. When we speak in these terms, we don't sound any better than the other side.

Nobody "did" anything to Biden on that debate stage. Trump was the same lying heap of manure we've all come to expect from Trump. For whatever, reason, Biden didn't appropriately parry the attacks. To suggest that something nefarious happened is just fodder for the other side to make fun of us. We can do better.

[LuckyCharms]

52. I speak in terms of what I believe MAY be true.

It's not "we" who are mildly questioning this situation, it is ME.

I speak for myself.

And you say "for whatever reason".

That's what I'm questioning.

The reason.

I'm not really concerned about what the other side makes fun of.

They make fun of everything. That's what they do.

[wnylib]

85. There are a number of possible reasons for Biden's performance in the debate.

I think that there are a combination of factors.

But first, we know that Biden can think on his feet and handle negative comments and jeers. He can turn them into something positive. We saw him do it at the SOTU address just a few months ago.

So why didn't he do it in the debate? Physically, he was not feeling well. But I think that there are other factors. He has the weight of the nation and the world on his shoulders. He has been dealing with some high stakes negotiations and conferences around the world. He gets regular briefings from Intel agencies on these situations. It's a possibility that a briefing prior to the debate on that day or even the day before weighed on his mind at the time.

Then there is Trump's gish gallop style of speaking, which is nearly impossible for anyone to refute, especially in a 1 or 2 minute format. As Biden said later, it's not possible to debate a liar.

Those factors in a real world situation would be handled very differently as president outside of a 1 or 2 minute debate format. In a real world situation, the president would have many options and tools at his disposal and a good president would know how to use them to his/her advantage. Biden has done that many times in negotiations.

He is a capable president and has proven that with his accomishments.

Then there were the expectations that we all had prior to the debate. They were extremely high. We know what a liar Trump is. We know how honest Biden is. We expected that Biden's honesty in contrast to Trump would crush Trump on the stage. We fantasized in posts here on DU about Trump having a meltdown.

Then there was the media hype about what Biden needed to do in the debate. CNN pushed it in their ads before the debate.

So, in some ways we set ourselves up by putting all our anxieties onto Biden and expecting him to relieve them in one debate.

But, in the end, Biden's honesty, despite his performance, DID contrast with Trump's lies. People DID see through Trump. And they showed it in their donations. Trump's performance reminded them of how awful he is and was in office.

IF there was any conspiracy, and that's only IF, I would look to the people who prepped Biden. My opinion on that is to keep Biden and ditch the prep team.

In the media and among some in our own ranks there are people who wanted someone besides Biden and saw the debate as an opportunity to push their own agenda no matter what it would do to destroy our chances in November.

So, the debate is over. It's time to unite behind our candidate and his election. Give him a Dem Congress and he will accomplish even more than he already has.

[MustLoveBeagles]

106. Hear, hear

[whathehell]

82. Not at all..

The plethora of crazed wing nut theories have led to an erroneous assumption among some that
sabotage of the sort described by the OP NEVER happens, and that's just not true. Conspiracies DO happen, and I don't think the OP's scenario is beyond possibility.

[bamagal62]

88. My whole thing is

That it was so odd. It just seemed fishy. Otherwise, I haven’t been paying attention to Biden’s mental acuity and I don’t think that’s the case. Something is rotten in Denmark.

[ElementaryPenguin]

103. I had an immediate intuitive sense that Joe was drugged.

The drug was wearing off towards the end - and in the aftermath activities seemed much more himself.

Joe is clutch. He's never choked like that before. A mini-stroke or something else wouldn't temporarily cause his voice to go hoarse.

He delivered his incredible State of the Union address at the same time of night.

It wouldn't be hard for a Georgian official to spike water, etc.

With the stakes this great, there's nothing the MAGAs wouldn't pull. My God, we've seen what lengths they've gone to steal elections.

[MustLoveBeagles]

111. Whatever it was something was definitely off

[ananda]

2. The media is a problem, yes.

And yet the race has flipped more towards
Biden than Trump.

[global1]

7. I Like To Think That.....

but many of the uninformed American Electorate fall for the propaganda and are fickle.

Now more than ever - those Dem Party leaders that support Biden and a continuing democracy - have to be front and center and out there talking Biden and the Dems up every waking moment - and putting Tr**p, the MAGA's and the Repugs on the defensive.

[ananda]

18. Totally agree.

Let's win the information war!

[Stuart G]

65. "THE MEDIA IS THE PROBLEM."

[shrike3]

89. Remember the Wall Street Journal story about out of it Biden not long ago?

This is ongoing. This is nothing new.

[ananda]

91. It's a fiction created by Republicans and the rightwing press.

Even though debating sick, Biden was still speaking coherently
and factually.

[BannonsLiver]

3. No.

81 year old man had a bad night as 81 year olds sometimes do. Not seeing a vast conspiracy to make that happen tbh.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. You are right. Stuff happens. . . . . nt

[Raven123]

32. It's not just 81 year olds who have bad nights for goodness sake!

Might want to rethink that comment. Seems to me it feeds the narrative the GOP is happy to promote.

[BannonsLiver]

42. Is Biden 81?

Do 81 year olds have bad days?

Did I say only 81 year olds have bad days?

Instead of worrying about me rethinking the comment you might spend a little more time reading the post.

[orange jar]

62. Reminds me of this:

Switch "Twitter" for "social media in general"

[GaYellowDawg]

45. THANK you

Too much conspiratorial thinking around here. If this conspiracy shit keeps up, we'll have to rename the place DemoQratic Underground.

[maptap22]

5. My fantasy is that Joe set the trap

Lull the convicted felon into a false sense of security by doing poorly and then cream him in the next one. Because now rump will debate him again.
Silly I know.

[LuckyCharms]

6. Not silly. Not likely, but not silly.

I've had the same passing thought.

[Solomon]

66. Me too.

[central scrutinizer]

11. Rope-a-dope

[Phoenix61]

19. No silly at all. Joe's always played the long game.

It certainly has shown him who really has his back.

[Turbineguy]

8. The only way the republicans can win is to cheat.

You go from there. On a rare occasion you might be considered a bit paranoid, but rarely so.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. Biden answered a question about abortion by talking about migrant murderers

Nobody made him say that.

The media feeding frenzy was a result of Biden’s poor performance, and Dem operatives’ panic in response.

It wasn’t a “hit job” planned in advance.

If SOTU Biden had shown up, there would be no “chum” in the water to trigger the feeding frenzy.

[shrike3]

90. Biden was tasked with countering Trump's lies and making his case.

Would have been a challenge for a younger person. He brought up migrants' murders because Trump had just lied through his teeth about it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

92. It was a poor response to a question on abortion, that is a fact. Nt

[shrike3]

108. Again, read what I said.

It was an attempt to counter Trump's tsunami of lies, which would have been difficult even for a younger person. Should he have done it then? Probably not. But it was up to him to counter Trump's lies. No one else was doing it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

109. The attempt to counter Trump's Gish Gallop resulted in a garbled response

A garbled response that mangled both his challenge to Trump’s lies and and his response to the abortion question.

[shrike3]

110. Obviously. BUT, he was the one expected to counter Trump lies.

Poor format.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Powerful financial interests thrive on the political mainstream, within reason

Some are trying to figure out how not to destroy the Republican Party while not giving Democrats free reign.

Others are trying to keep Donald Trump from office while protecting liberal political economy and government.

Still others are with Steve Bannon.

We wanted to get debates out of the way early. We are better off having this age debate now than on November 1.

That's all I got.

[liberalla]

78. Yes, it's good this happened now instead of in the final weeks before the election.

What I mean is, if it had to happen - earlier is better than later.

YKWIM

[calimary]

99. Isn't Bannon on his way to jail today?

Too bad he only got a few months’ sentence.

[Goodheart]

12. Sorry, no.

[jmbar2]

13. Disinformation and Reflexive Control: The New Cold War

(From 2017)

Nearly four months after the election, US policymakers and political researchers remain puzzled by Russia’s potential involvement and the impact of “fake news” and other forms of disinformation that plagued the campaigns. With confusion swirling around “alternative facts,” the effects of disinformation and Russian meddling are just beginning to take hold. This phenomenon may be new to American politics, but it’s an old strategy in the Kremlin. To understand and combat the effects and goals of disinformation, we must understand the concept of reflexive control and how it fits into greater Russian strategy.

...reflexive control is a sustained campaign that feeds an opponent select information so that the opponent makes the decisions that one wants him/her to. Methods of reflexive control include spreading false information, leaking partial information at opportune moments, and projecting a different posture of oneself than what may actually be the case.[iii]

...Russia’s goal is not just to elect a certain candidate in the United States, but to fundamentally undermine the democratic decision-making process to ‘win’ its information war against the West.[xi] Accordingly, Russian disinformation will continue to undermine our political system and act as a direct national security threat to the United States for the foreseeable future.

...the United States needs to spend more time dissecting reflexive control as a concept to understand Russia’s holistic view of warfare and recognize that Russia’s disinformation campaign is not an isolated incident, but a new Cold War.

https://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/2017/02/01/disinformation-and-reflexive-control-the-new-cold-war/

[triron]

16. Hardly new! 2016 daw it big time.

[totodeinhere]

14. I don't understand how this could have been sabotage.

The Biden campaign agreed to this debate. And nobody forced Joe to say what he said during the debate. Joe had a bad night plain and simple. But one bad night should not disqualify him. Heck, Trump has had bad nights for the past seven years.

[Goodheart]

58. Of course it wasn't. Somebody's grasping at straws.

[dlk]

15. I've had the same feeling

Something seems to have happened just prior to the debate that knocked Joe off his game, a foreign terror threat, prthaps. I could see it in his eyes. We will never know. What we do know, though, is there is no trick is too dirty for the other side.

All we can do is roll up our sleeves and do everything we can to re-elect President Biden.

[barbaraann]

39. Perhaps an advisor told him "Just look really stunned at the evil and the lies and you'll win."

[themaguffin]

17. While there is all kinds of fuckery, we can't be like the GQP cult. It was an awful performance. We can't deny it.

[orangecrush]

24. It was a much better performance

Than we got from "I will build a wall of lies".

[themaguffin]

81. of course, but it's not about what we think.

[NoveltySocks]

20. While I don't think it's a mass conspiracy,

I do think we're seeing what happens when business- and career-related goals don't align with what's best for the country or its people. The major narrative that's been crafted about President Biden is that he's old. That's been the "story" for years now, and it's a source of division that can be easily exploited. Had the debate gone well for Biden, the vultures would have just waited to pounce on some other event or incident they could use to promote their narrative. It seemed like some of these personalities had basic drafts of their stories/posts ready to go beforehand. It was just a matter of filling in the details.

I suspect that a not small number of media personalities, pundits and influencers, view a second Trump presidency as an opportunity to gain more viewers and followers, build their brands, get better time slots or contracts, etc. Others are probably just hoping for a short-term boost in engagement from scared people searching for answers.

[orangecrush]

23. Seeing Joe at the rally

On fire, the day after the debate made me wonder.

[Ruhama]

29. On Fire The Day After The Debate

You hit the point of suspicion that’s been festering. Just does not add up. Honestly wondered if he’d been dosed with something. A little addition to his cold medicine? Biden is feisty. He can swear like a sailor. He knows what a swine DJT really is & holds him in complete contempt. Not afraid of him in the least. All those out to cut Biden off at the knees have now shown their true colors. And that means individuals left, right & center.

[greymattermom]

51. That's what I thought immediately

Someone switched his cold medicine, or maybe just doubled the dose.

[Attilatheblond]

26. Most of corporate America is UN-American

Been predicting this global overlord attempt to take over for decades now, and wished to hell I was wrong, but, nope, this is an attempted coup that makes the J6/Trump Flunkies look like a church picnic, but it has been cover for some time.

Trump is their puppet. Getting rid of him does not solve our problem, just the immediate facet of our problem.

[Sogo]

27. Are you saying that part of the plan was to make sure Joe had a cold so that his

voice and reaction time were weakened?

That's a MAGA level of conspiracy theory.

Look, it was a perfect storm: Joe being sick and being hit with the Gish Gallop of the Sick F, gave us a terrible debate performance. It's not going to leave a lasting impression.

If Joe turns up in the swing states like his did in NC the day after, we'll be OK. We really need to do nothing else but focus on swing state turnout...

[suegeo]

28. I also think this was a set up. Psychological warfare

The GOP and Putin are in bed together. Some GOP congress people went to Russia for the 4th of July several years ago.

Hillary Clinton said, out loud, that Trump is Putin's puppet. That has not changed.

The GOP and Putin are running a Psychological war against us. Mike Flynn ain't dead. He sat by Putin at a state dinner and ran some kind of mind fuck in Afghanistan, or somewhere. Obama wanted him gone. What's that Flynn asshole been up to?

The "Biden step down" refrains are "just" another verse to this fascist song.
1. Al Gore should concede! Mayor Daley said in response, "Why should he?" Where are Dems like the Mayor to counter act this current psy op?

2. Al Franken must give up his senate seat! No investigation, dole out the most severe punishment!

3. But her emails! Let's have the FBI re-open that in October! (FBI's McGonigal was embedded FFS!)

4. There was shit about Hillary's health being so poor, she should drop out. That was not all that long ago.

Since the creative speculation forum is archived now, I'll speculate: some MAGA in the Secret Service slipped something into Biden's food or drink. Some GOP nut at CNN (which is now owned by fascists) screwed with Joe's make up and the lighting was bad. It would be easy to mess with the presidents microphone, thereby making the president harder to hear. The camera rolled footage of Putin's puppet from the front, and Joe from the side.

Of all the nonsense, dirty tricks from the past 25 years, it would be foolish NOT to think that something is rotten in Denmark. The IMMEDIATE refrain that an incumbent, successful president step aside reminded me of the Al Franken fiasco. Oh my PTSD. People who should have known better shot themselves in the foot.

[Tumbulu]

93. I agree- all excellent points

The disgrace is falling for it.

[Groundhawg]

31. Are you saying this was an inside job?

[sybylla]

33. It wasn't very well planned in my book.

If the President hadn't been suffering from a cold and possibly under the negative influence of a cold medicine, the President on that debate stage would have been the one you saw the next day in NC.

The fascist powers that be in corporate media just got lucky.

[lotusblossom]

34. My thoughts exactly.

Everything feels like it was orchestrated for that moment including TSF's sudden change to how Biden would beat him and then the media pushed that narrative. Also saying this was the most important moment and Biden needed to win this no matter what. It set expectations so high that most of us had the same gut-wrench reaction of it being a disaster for Joe.

[Bluesaph]

35. My feelings EXACTLY!

The shut down should be: The lying felonious rapist is the one who should be dropping out. Repeat repeat repeat!

The media will get sick of setting up the argument. But every time we try to explain and bla bla bla we accept the frame and lose the argument.

[doc03]

36. It wasn't sabatage, Biden had a very bad night.

I don't know how he could be so bad then less than 24 hours later be as sharp as a tack. My worst nightmare happened, from the beginning of the campaign I have worried about something like that or something worse before the election. I am 76 years old myself and have bad days but I am not president.

[Blue Full Moon]

73. Appearance

While I don't go along with appearance is everything there are a lot of people do.

[Blue Full Moon]

37. The interview

Before the debate tfg said he didn't need to practice and that Biden would have laryngitis. Hmm. Didn't he try to give Covid to Biden during one of the debates in 2020? Then now supposed Democratic talking heads are wanting Joe to drop out over being sick and having laryngitis? Joe dropping out only helps tfg. I don't believe to much in coincidence.

[karin_sj]

38. I do

It seems like this came out of the blue. Yes, he had a cold, but he was totally out of character on Thursday night. To me, it seemed like he had been drugged. Maybe the cold medicine affected him. But this coordinated, unrelenting attack on him to step down is astounding. And the people who are attacking him are trying to make it look like it's not just the 90 minute debate, but other things too (but they never say what they are). I think there is more to this than we know. It's really depressing because I believe that most of the voters still want him to stay in the race. It's the pundits, political operatives, and media that are going after him relentlessly.

[onecaliberal]

40. Yes! I had the same thoughts.

Including Biden’s microphone volume being turned very low for the debate.

[Irish_Dem]

41. I am having suspicions as well.

I cannot make sense of what happened at the debate.

The best predictor of behavior is past behavior.

But both Biden and Trump had a significant change in baseline mental status and behavior
at the debate.

Biden for the worse, Trump for the better.

Then the very next day they go back to baseline mental status.
Biden remarkably improves and Trump goes back to poor mental status.

Seems like too many coincidences and odd.

[John1956PA]

47. Hi, Irish Dem. I am thinking of a 2020 primary debate . . .

. . . when then-candidate Biden was having a difficult time articulating a reply. He concluded in a bit of a mumble-like manner by stating, "I am out of time," when there was still more time available to him to conclude his thoughts. Anyway, I am sad about all of this. I just finished my part-time work shift, and I just want to call it a day. Take care.

[Irish_Dem]

53. We have to factor in Joe's speech disorder (stuttering.)

This interrupts the free flow of speech.

He knows exactly what he wants to say but has trouble getting it out.

This has nothing to do with someone's IQ at all.
Or thought process.

It is a glitch in the production of speech.

There is no perfect brain.
All of us have some sort of brain glitches.

So perhaps the stress of the debate caused what you saw?

[murielm99]

57. Don't worry.

Trump will do something big and stupid fairly soon. He can't help himself. He will say things that sound much worse than "black jobs" or "shithole countries." Whatever it is that he says or does, it will take the debate performance off of everyone's attention.

[Irish_Dem]

61. Trump was stupid the next day.

This is one of my points.
Next day he bounces back to stupidity.

[Tree Lady]

44. Exactly the media is pushing

for a open convention and somebody new just for the excitement of it, they don't care that it would probably help Trump win. They just want ratings at any cost.

[brooklynite]

46. When you say "set up" are you blaming the Biden campaign?

THEY chose the date and agreed to the rules.

Is it a setup if Democratic officials (nb: I'm not aware of any) are calling on Biden to step down? If so, a setup by whom?

[MOMFUDSKI]

49. Until Biden's number one spokesman

comes out with WTF happened at the debate, this forum will be a series of LONG discussions of WTF happened at the debate. This also applies to the entire Democratic Party. We wait

[louis-t]

55. Every news service has the word 'disaster'.

Really getting tired of seeing it.

[proud patriot]

56. Where are the headlines about Melania

and the rest of the family not being there for trump ?????

[Beck23]

59. I had the same feeling

I had the same feeling after Israel started bombing Gaza. It seemed like all the protests were pre-organized.

[Irish_Dem]

70. Yes same here. The attack was also suspicious.

HAMAS does not have the ability to fool the US CIA and Israeli Mossad.
It could not have pulled this off without a lot of help.

[people]

60. Suspicions?

I read several months ago (5 months?, 10 months?) that a few commentators or political strategists, I assume on the right, said that for certain Biden would not be the democratic nominee -- that someone else will be picked at the convention. At the time I thought that was crazy, but now I wonder why that was said.

[Beck23]

63. A wild speculation

Do you think Biden could have been drugged? He said he didn't know what happened. That doesn't sound like a man who knew he wasn't feeling well.

[Irish_Dem]

71. It is a possibility that has to be considered.

It would account for the behavior we saw.

[Boomerproud]

75. I didn't watch the debate and stayed far from the news and DU since Thursday

But the 180 change in Biden's demeanor from the debate to the rally is strange.

[Irish_Dem]

95. Yes exactly. From a clinical standpoint the rapid turnaround is notable.

[MichMan]

83. That would suggest the Secret Service was in on it.

[ColinC]

64. If nothing else, it's shifted the larger discussion to competency. And that may not be something the Trump campaign

really wants to delve too deep into for the long term.

[TheKentuckian]

68. Chump's competency bar is buried so deep that no one can prove exists.

Could you describe what it might be?

I don't see how anyone could better demonstrate a greater lack of fitness and poorer temperament for the job than he already has.

[Ligyron]

67. Our opposition is always planning a hit job and they are the Dirty Trick party for sure.

I'm sure one of their agents would slip something into Joe's meds if they could or for that matter do their best to give him a cold in the first place. They most definitely have a plan and it's the end of Democracy.

It's more than just this debate though.

It's like they know something we don't.

If the SCOTUS crowns Trump Emperor tomorrow, we'll know...

[Kaleva]

69. Are you saying many here are gullible idiots?

Your comment:

"It's like we've fallen for a sinister trap set for the Dems and Biden "

I don't have a clue as to why you, and you say others here, fell for it . I can only speculate.

I know I didn't and so didn't other DUers.

[joanbarnes]

72. yes

[BlueTsunami2018]

76. Did the President sabotage himself?

Because that’s all it’s about, his own performance.

Did he deliberately come off horribly in order to find a way out of the race without just quitting?

This kind of conspiratorial crazy talk is best left to the whackos on the right.

[liberalla]

80. I don't think that's what the post was suggesting and I don't think Biden wants out

[liberalla]

86. I admit to having similar thoughts, feelings and questions. Something's way 'off', but what is it?

It just feels 'hinky', and as you say, suspect. There are probably quite a few possibilities as to what it could be, but pinpointing the exact cause will be difficult.

I don't want to get conspiratorial, but the pukes make it easy to do. They WILL go to any length to undermine Biden and the dems, and their resources are deep (and international).

According to the First Lady: “After last night’s debate, he said, ‘You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great,’” she recounted.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/30/how-biden-debate-prep-led-to-damaging-event/

Was he feeling fine before the debate? Did it come on quickly at CNN, or is this the cold his Dr. diagnosed?

And yes, I really don't like that many prominent Democrats are so willing to pull the plug on his campaign!

[Joinfortmill]

87. Me. Been saying it, too.

I'd like to know about the camera man and the angle of his shots. And I'd like to know about the volume on the mics for starters.

[Tumbulu]

94. Immediately when it started I suspected something weird was going on

Why would they have T45 looking straight and President Biden always looking from the side? And yes about the mic’s.

But an idea came to me - remember the people working at the Cuban Embassy who experienced some sort of attack. That nobody could figure out? Still have not figured out? Gave them headaches and they felt weird? Could the Russians have figured out a way to direct energetic waves at a person and impair their capacity to think?

I do not rule out poisoning/ mild impairment coming from the T/Putin team either. Or the occult for that matter.

So, in short, I do believe that something more than Biden’s cold was going on. And I do not appreciate the media paying more attention to it than to all of the lies spewing out of the devil incarnate’s mouth.

Now maybe just being 7 feet away for the sulfurous smell is enough to fry anyone’s brain. There is that. Let alone all the crazy stuff that was being thrown out verbally.

[John Shaft]

96. It was beneath the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States

for President Biden to debate The Shitstain in the first place.

It all smells scripted as hell.

[Glaisne]

97. Whatever it is it's going to backfire.

It already is.

[flying_wahini]

98. It almost is like Leonard Leo and SCOTUS and the hit teams in the House and Senate got paid off

To go along.

[KPN]

101. It does seem like a wheel has come off for sure. Whether that's because someone loosened the lug nuts

or just normal happenstance? Well, I would need some proof. But I definitely understand where you are coming from, especially since we know the Rs have been planning the demise of democracy for quite sometime and aided by the aristocratic-minded wealthy, have succeeded in tearing down key bulwarks of democracy via legislation and judicial rulings. Not to mention they even have a current plan fort permanently doing so in Project 2025.

So, while there is that "conspiracy theory" feeling around it, I absolutely understand why you or anyone on our side might feel that way. The wheels definitely have come off.

[JanLip]

102. This makes more sense to me

Then anything I’ve read this morning. Just too many coincidences


Jan

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

104. Something's fishy, that's for sure!!

[DownriverDem]

105. trump is

still hated by most. Move on from the debate and work to GOTV.

[wendyb-NC]

107. Yup, it's a curious situation, nt

[ECL213]

112. Which Democratic Party leaders?

I haven’t seen any calling for him to step down. I see a bunch of media personalities and talking heads, but no D leaders.

Now, mind you, I stopped paying attention to all of this pants wetting horseshit Thursday night.

[Biden4eva]

114. We had a 2 minute delay

There was a 2 minute delay on the CNN video feed.

As someone with experience in video editing, I suspect this was done with the intention of editing Biden’s remarks to look as damaging as possible.

The Russians want Trump back in office…. This was an hour and a half of cheap fakes.

[TwilightZone]

115. The claim that it was delayed is false.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/06/28/cnn-delay-presidential-debate-fact-check/74247988007/

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/openai-chatgpt-microsoft-copilot-fallse-claim-presidential-debate-rcna159353