(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) The very platform that President Joe Biden, the former presumptive Democratic nominee, used to announce his impromptu—albeit, not entirely unexpected—exit from the 2024 presidential election had become a breeding ground of suspicion following a full day in which Biden himself had yet to surface.
With his schedule having been wiped indefinitely, a growing number of social-media users on X were beginning to demand #ProofofLife as of Monday afternoon.
Where is Biden? We demand #ProofOfLife ..
I never thought I would become an advocate for Joe Biden’s welfare but my principles are never partisan pic.twitter.com/HT80UUfGK8
— Casey Wright 🥖🎪 (@503i7) July 22, 2024
While some continued to joke about it, others found the apparent cover-up of the sitting president’s condition to be alarming and a matter of the utmost public interest.
Anyone else think Biden is dead?
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) July 22, 2024
Rumors began spreading that Biden may have undergone some kind of serious medical emergency during his trip last week to Las Vegas.
UPDATE: I've received multiple emails like this one confirming many elements of the story. Many have confirmed that a call went out to block streets to get Biden to University Medical trauma center ASAP, and then the plan abruptly changed and they got him out on AF1 very quickly.… https://t.co/0LY7F4DrYv pic.twitter.com/jp9Xud0mSP
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 22, 2024
“The last time the public saw Biden he feebly walked down the stairs of Air Force One and had to be physically assisted into the presidential limo,” noted conservative radio pundit Todd Starnes. “He has not been seen in public since.”
If, indeed, Biden were still alive, others questioned whether the ostensibly COVID-stricken 81-year-old may have agreed to something under severe duress or in a weakened state that he would not otherwise have consented to if he were in full health.
Something smells.
Why would President Biden announce such a momentous and historic decision on a Sunday afternoon on a social media platform? The letter he posted was not written on White House stationary. And his signature appeared to be photoshopped. Also, Biden's signature…
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) July 22, 2024
Then there were questions as to whether Biden was even aware of his decision to drop out at all.
Several pointed out that in addition to the lack of visual proof, the letter itself did not appear on his official White House letterhead, and the signature did not match with his normal signature.
I don't endorse Biden conspiracies, but still:
It's strange and wrong that Biden hasn't spoken given the historic magnitude of his announcement.
Having a President drop out by tweet and then disappear is bizarre.
If he's well enough to decide, then he's well enough to speak. pic.twitter.com/L0TKMpXHrg
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 22, 2024
Biden’s initial announcement claimed that something more official would be forthcoming later in the week.
Late Monday, he reportedly called into Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign headquarters to offer his support.
🚨 Biden (allegedly) calls in to his former campaign HQ before Kamala speaks: "I know yesterday's news was surprising" pic.twitter.com/qZODLao6UW
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 22, 2024
However, in the era of deep-fake videos and a Democratic Party that already has expended all its credibility by attempting to mislead the public about Biden’s condition, it may take more convincing than that.
Already, Biden’s voice has been known to have been replicated by artificial intelligence as part of a hoax that occurred during the New Hampshire primary, when voters received robocalls telling them to stay home.
Attorney General Merrick Garland also cited concerns over the misuse of recordings as his pretense for refusing to make public the audio interview between Biden and special counsel Robert Hur—which ultimately resulted in Garland being charged with contempt of Congress.
Meanwhile, both Republicans expressed outrage over the duplicitous manner in which Democrats have sought to use the Biden bait-and-switch to nullify the results of their primary election while still attempting to keep the incapacitated, vegetable president in office—despite acknowledging that he is unfit to serve.
Several, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., promised that they would wage whatever legal challenges were necessary to prevent the candidate swap from going through.
Yet, Democrat lawyer Marc Elias threatened Johnson back, saying that the DNC would ultimately prevail in any legal battle over its right to deprive Democrats of a duly-elected candidate based on their dubious bylaws, which ultimately grant all the party’s power to an uber-class of elite super-delegates.
Showing little self-awareness over the fact that Democrats themselves had just committed an insurrection, Elias projected the accusation onto Johnson, accusing him, in true Saul Alinsky form, of being an “insurrectionist.”
First, you are an insurrectionist.
Second, if your lawyers are telling you that they can prevent the DNC from nominating its candidate of choice, they are idiots. I know a lot about that, since I beat them more than 60x in court after the 2020 election. https://t.co/L27kmKCvqy
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) July 22, 2024
Just days earlier, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., had fumed in a rambling rant against Democrat party elites via Instagram that there was not consensus about Biden’s exit, sowing suspicion about the means through which her own party was attempting to oust the current president.
However, she has since fallen in line with the party talking points.
AOC literally told the world a couple days ago that the Democrat Establishment doesn’t want Kamala Harris running
Now she has come out and fully endorsed Kamala Harris for President declaring she WILL be the next President
You can’t make this up
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) July 22, 2024
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
