CNN Covers International Reaction to Biden’s “Dismal Showing” at the Debate

CNN ran a piece saying that Joe Biden’s debate performance was a big win for Vladimir Putin. I can’t find the clip on YouTube or Twitter, but they’re probably saying this constantly everywhere in the media.

This article here is a news piece (as opposed to an op-ed) which editorializes that Biden’s performance was “dismal” before explaining that the whole world is mocking the US over Biden.

CNN:

President Joe Biden’s dismal showing at the CNN presidential debate against former President Donald Trump resonated around the world, with foreign diplomats expressing shock and concern while raising questions about the implications for a consequential US election that could upend the foreign policy status-quo should Trump be elected again.

“Hard to watch” is how multiple foreign diplomats described Thursday night’s debate between Biden and Trump to CNN.

The overwhelming sentiment among more than half a dozen diplomats from Europe, the Middle East and Asia whom CNN spoke to was that it was “a bad night for Biden,” as one European diplomat put it.

“It is a sad reality that Biden is old, and he is getting older. We saw it. I had difficulties understanding what he was saying, and I understand English pretty well,” said a second European diplomat.

“Trump ate him alive,” said an Arab diplomat.

“I was shell-shocked. I could not believe my eyes,” an Asian diplomat said of Biden’s performance.

So, “European,” “Arab,” and “Asian.”

Sources are now just referred to by their race?

I wouldn’t be surprised if these are real quotes, but at this point, it is easier for CNN writers to just make up quotes that seem plausible. There is zero reason for them to have real sources.

Biden’s debate flop was front-page news across Europe, with left- and right-leaning newspapers excoriating the president – even in France, where the country has its own elections coming up this weekend.

The president’s debate performance also compounded already pronounced concerns about the policies Trump would likely enact if he wins in November. Trump on Thursday once again displayed his isolationist tendencies and his NATO-skeptic worldview that often alarmed US allies during his first presidential term. At the debate, Trump questioned continuing to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia and falsely claimed that the US had given more in aid to Ukraine than all other European countries put together.

Trump even suggested that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about his “dream” of invading Ukraine. He also attacked Biden over the Afghanistan withdrawal and argued it was the reason Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“When Putin saw that, he said, you know what, I think we’re going to go in and maybe take my – this was his dream. I talked to him about it, his dream. The difference is he never would have invaded Ukraine. Never,” Trump said.

A Ukrainian politician told CNN he found Trump’s statements on the war in Ukraine “worrying.”

“We’re very concerned because we, more or less, understand what it means for Ukraine, (a) Biden presidency, and we really don’t know what it means for Ukraine, a Trump presidency,” Oleksiy Goncharenko told CNN. “It can be very good, it can be very bad. We just don’t know. And that’s definitely concerning.”

Notice that there is still a very aggressive tone towards Trump everywhere in the media. Every article is shaped like this one: talk about how bad Biden is, then talk about how much worse Trump would be. It’s not like they’re saying “well, this Biden guy is toast, I guess we’ll have to deal with Trump.” They have a different plan.

It is simply undeniable that there is now an organized attempt to remove Biden as the 2024 Democrat candidate.

I’ve never actually seen a media campaign like this fail, so I would expect that in the next few days, you’re going to hear about Biden “considering his options” and then they will roll out either Gavin Newsom or Michelle Obama.