There’s a reason “IncoherentJoe” was trending on Twitter after President Joe Biden’s CNN town hall Thursday.
THE MOMENT
Biden had plenty of typically weird moments on the stage in Baltimore, but it was 19 seconds of viral footage that defined the night for many viewers.
The entire time host Anderson Cooper was formulating a question about how long high inflation will last, Biden held out his forearms, with his elbows at right angles and his fists clenched.
- “I don’t know what to do with my hands” was how one widely shared tweet characterized the pose.
- Some Twitter users said the president looked like he was grasping an “imaginary jet pack.”
- Dilbert creator Scott Adams and others were reminded of the animated series “Beavis and Butthead — causing “Cornholio” and “Beavis” to trend on Twitter, along with “IncoherentJoe.”
When Biden answered Cooper’s question, in meandering style, he maintained that inflation will be transitory, adding that he expected gas prices to come down “into next year, 2022.”
THE ISSUES
Beyond ongoing questions about Biden’s mental acuity, at least one of the president’s confused responses during the town hall raised national security concerns.
- Biden told Cooper America was “committed” to coming to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked, apparently contradicting the longstanding U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity’ regarding a military intervention under such circumstances.
- The White House was quick to clarify that the president was “not announcing any change in our policy.”
