President Biden strangely referred to House Speaker Mike Johnson as “dead on arrival” after Johnson criticized him for attempting to “radically overhaul” the Supreme Court during an election year.
When a reporter informed Biden that Johnson had described his proposed changes as “dead on arrival” in the House, Biden oddly responded: “That’s what he is.”
“He is — dead on arrival,” Biden repeated while answering reporters’ questions on the tarmac about Johnson’s remarks.
“This is incoherent and pathetic (Naturally Andrew Bates reposted it),” Johnson’s spokesperson Taylor Haulsee posted on X, pointing out the senior deputy White House press secretary who had denied for weeks that his boss was planning to exit the 2024 race.
Johnson later shared the video of Biden’s comment on his X account, adding a clip from Biden’s problematic debate with former President Donald Trump, where Trump said: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”
Biden, 81, halted his re-election campaign last week and supported Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
In an Oval Office speech last Thursday, he indicated his intention to “call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy,” following a passionate address weeks earlier about a ruling that gave presidents absolute immunity for official acts.
Johnson stated that the president’s plan to introduce term limits and a code of ethics, along with other proposed changes for the high court, “would tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.”
“This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court,” Johnson said on Monday. “Their calls to expand and pack the Court will soon resume.”
“It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions,” he added. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), 77, who was the first sitting member of Congress to publicly urge Biden to step aside, greeted the president after he descended the shorter staircase off Air Force One.
Biden smiled, shook Doggett’s hand, and posed for a selfie with Rep. Al Green (D., Texas), according to pool reports of the touchdown.
“Great to welcome President Biden at @AUStinAirport. A true statesman and patriot. We are now making our way to the LBJ Library to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and reaffirm our commitment to a more equal and just future,” Doggett posted on X about their meeting.
Doggett, who had initially supported Biden, withdrew his support following the president’s debate with Trump last month, which heightened concerns about his age.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Doggett said earlier this month.
Dozens of Democrats in both chambers of Congress later publicly called on Biden to step down and pass the baton.
Ultimately, Biden announced on July 21 that he was leaving the 2024 race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
Biden traveled to Texas to speak at the LBJ Presidential Library, marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Lyndon B. Johnson announced he wouldn’t seek reelection in 1968, leading to Republican Richard Nixon’s victory that year. Johnson’s decision came about 295 days before election night.
Biden’s withdrawal occurred at an unprecedented 107 days before November 5 — and just over two weeks before Democrats were expected to officially nominate him in a virtual roll call.
The House speaker has previously questioned Biden’s mental sharpness and suggested that Democrats were hiding his lapses.
“I didn’t want to come out and talk about personal interactions with the president because I’ve been concerned about … this projection of weakness on the world stage in a very dangerous time,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union” last week.
“Now that the cat is out of the bag, you can hear from the Republican speaker to affirm what everyone else has known and seen. The Democrats have been involved in a big cover-up here,” he added.
{Matzav.com}