Dave Letterman, back when late night shows at least could be funny some of the time, had this saying he employed when stuff was just not going right for the butt of one of his jokes in the monologue. He used to say, "I wouldn't give his troubles to a monkey on a rock." We've approached that stage with President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.

On my Duane's World podcast, I've treated the speculation about whether or not Biden would actually be the nominee of the Democratic Party in this fall's presidential election like a day trader treats a junk stock. Long term, it's not a smart play, but short term, you might make a few quick bucks depending on the hesitancy of the party apparatchiks to shove him aside, the calendar leading up to the DNC's conference call hurrying up the formal nominating process, and regime media's willingness to cover up the President's cognitive decline. 

But this week has been a cascade of one disaster after another for Biden, and by Wednesday night, he became the Game Stop presidency, because the bottom fell out of the Biden futures market bubble. 

First, it was the three Monday one-on-one interviews - Lester Holt on NBC News, The Complex podcast with Speedy Morman, and BET with Ed Gordon. I've written about them earlier in the week here, here, and here. All three were supposed to serve two purposes - 1. to show Joe Biden's debate performance was just one bad night and that he's in full control of his wits and his presidency, and 2. to shore up support with Blacks and Latinos. 

I must confess, I spent most of my time watching, analyzing, and writing about the Lester Holt and Speedy Morman interviews, because they both contained a cornucopia of show prep material. I didn't really watch any of the Ed Gordon interview, but tonight, 20 seconds of pure gold surfaced, which in any sane world would be the end any campaign. 



Uh, that Black man would be General Lloyd Austin. It's been four years since he joined the Biden administration in one of the big four positions in the federal government - Secretary of Defense. And Joe Biden still doesn't know his name. Here's Joe over the years not knowing who's running the U.S. military for him. 

Flashback to March 2021, when Biden couldn't remember Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's name: "The guy who runs that outfit over there" pic.twitter.com/6FHGU5eK1f

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 7, 2024

Every one of those clips is pretty bad, but Joe took all that previous badness to a new art form Monday on, checks notes, Black Entertainment Television. He could only refer to him as "the Black man." Not exactly consistent with the soaring rhetoric of Dr. King's dream, is it? 



The entire trip to Nevada was to shore up minority votes Biden absolutely has to have to have a chance this November, but that clip with Ed Gordon on BET just torpedoed any benefit he might have enjoyed. 

Speaking of trips to Nevada, the Latinos needed a little Joe Biden pandering as well, so Joe naturally visited his favorite place to meet Latinos - a Mexican restaurant, because that's where all the Latinos hang out, apparently.

Imagine going out to a nice Mexican restaurant and the President stops by, talks and shakes hands with patrons and staff and then a bit later announces he has covid 😐pic.twitter.com/Ni4zYdgMN1

— Bryan McNally (@BryanDMcNally) July 17, 2024

The restaurant was Lindo Michoácan, which translates into English as Beautiful place of the fishermen. The problem is that Joe didn't catch anything there. He'd already caught COVID, and decided to share it with a restaurant full of people trying to eat dinner. He became a one-man super spreader event. About an hour later, the news broke that he has COVID for the third time, is headed back to Delaware for the rest of the week, at least, and that 2024 has become the 2020 basement campaign again.  

The timing could not possibly be any worse for someone who is trying to claim he's all-in for this election cycle. Here's Joe Biden Leaving Las Vegas in a little better shape than Nicolas Cage was in the 1995 film, but that's only because Cage's character went to Vegas to intentionally drink himself to death. 

.⁦@POTUS⁩ is back on Air Force One and we’re headed to Delaware pic.twitter.com/SLGfL8pcN1

— Nandita Bose (@nanditab1) July 17, 2024

Donald Trump took a head shot, popped back up, and was on the golf course draining 20-footers the next day. Joe looks like he might not make it to his seat on board the plane. And here is Joe Biden several hours later getting off Air Force One using the small stairs in Delaware. Very slowly.

President Joe Biden arrives in Delaware after testing positive for Covid.https://t.co/L7W3MfOHD2 pic.twitter.com/FVdEboIzfH

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) July 18, 2024

Keep in mind, the President has allegedly been diagnosed with symptomatic COVID, and yet he's still unmasked. Now for the even more painful-to-watch video. Here's the leader of the free world negotiating the back seat of the motorcade SUV.

OMG. Biden can't even get into the car! :( pic.twitter.com/i76dqYWFfX

— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) July 18, 2024

It's bad. So bad, in fact, that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer both had conversations with Joe to tell him we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way is the private conversation we're having now. The hard way, well, is much more public. 

The two leaders told Biden they were delivering the views privately but the messages might not necessarily stay that way. They became public after the two leaders grew frustrated that they did not think Biden was listening to them. https://t.co/ttdE4A7Q7G

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 18, 2024

How bad is it for Democrats right now? Bad enough that even Nancy Pelosi called the President and told him he's too old, and it's time to get out before he destroys them all. 

Nancy Pelosi privately told Biden that polls show he cannot win and will take down the House, sources say, but the president pushed back on her assessment. https://t.co/JsSgtCxDTS

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 18, 2024

Nancy Pelosi telling Biden he's too old and to hit the bricks is a pretty interesting moment in American politics. Imagine Noah, who lived 950 years, telling Methuselah that he was getting a little long in the tooth. That's what that call might have sounded like. 

I've said for quite a while that the two dynamics that would drive Biden out of the White House, besides, of course, God signaling in His own special way that it's time for Joe to go, are if swing state polling collapses AND fundraising money dries up. Both have to happen to create the political pressure for a hundred Democratic Brutus' to remove Joelius Caesar. 

Team Biden didn't even ask for internal swing state polling to be done after the debate until this week. They didn't want to know how bad it would be. But they couldn't stop other polling outfits from doing their job. Emerson is out with the latest, and the numbers are brutal for the Democrats. 

NEW Midnight EMERSON polls (7/15-16)

National 🟥 Trump +4

North Carolina 🟥 Trump +7
Arizona 🟥 Trump +7
Georgia 🟥 Trump +6
Nevada 🟥 Trump +5
Pennsylvania 🟥 Trump +5
Wisconsin 🟥 Trump +5
Michigan 🟥 Trump +3

— umichvoter 🏳️‍🌈 (@umichvoter) July 18, 2024

The only swing state still technically within margin of error is Michigan, and that's only just at the outer edge. As for fundraising, well, it's not been a good week on that front for the President, either. Enter Michael Isikoff of the Daily Beast. 

Breaking from ⁦@thedailybeast⁩ :Major Dem Donor Draws up ‘I Quit’ Speech for Biden as Cash Dries Up https://t.co/SQMdDPbPFG

— Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff) July 18, 2024

Finally, is media dumping their Biden stock or holding onto it, or better yet, if you have the popcorn concession, buying into the crash? Joy Reid of MSNBC has adopted the latter strategy, suggesting Wednesday night that Biden surviving COVID would be just as much of a demonstration of strength as Donald Trump getting shot in the head and surviving. 

MSNBC says if Joe Biden recovers from covid it should be seen as a sign of strength, similar to Donald Trump surviving an assassination attempt. They really said this. Live. On air. pic.twitter.com/N5ZpijlRo3

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 17, 2024

She has also been embracing ear denialism, believing that Trump wasn't even shot in the first place. She apparently believes that it was all staged, buttressed by the fact that no doctors held a press conference, and medical reports have not been issued. Granted, she's an idiot, but it seems with regards to Joe Biden's presidency, Joy Reid's heart will go on. 

Meanwhile, on CNN, still chock full o'lefties on their panels, a much more realistic, sober reality of the inevitable is seeping in. Here's Jeff Zeleny. 



And from the melting chocolate bunnies category, here's Van Jones' assessment. 



How bad is it for the Democrats? I write two columns a week for Hot Air. This is my fourth column, and it's only Thursday.