If there were ever any doubts about who has really been running Team Biden, they were put to rest at the White House on April 5.
Barack Obama on Tuesday was back for the first time in five years. In his speech, touting the 12th anniversary of Obamacare, he referred to good ol' Joe as “Vice President Biden.”
Obama quickly followed up with "That was a joke!" but "the point was understood by everyone, that Joe is the beta in that relationship," the New York Post's Miranda Devine noted in an April 6 op-ed. "What does that make Obama?"
Observers counted 33 times Obama managed to mention himself during his speech.
"Who had the stupid idea to invite his charismatic predecessor back to upstage" Biden and "humiliate him before the world?" Devine asked.
Unlike his predecessors, Obama has maintained a residence in Washington, DC, and the reporting on who has been running the leaderless staff at the White House has been nonexistent. Washington insiders has speculated that former National Security Advisor Susan Rice has played a key role, and there is evidence his former staff had an active role in the 2020 campaign.
Related: ‘Shadow presidency’: Susan Rice is calling the shots, Grenell says, January 27, 2021
"There was little effort to burnish the battered reputation of the old man standing glumly alongside him trying to look jolly. Beside him, Vice President Kamala Harris was fairly bursting with excitement," Devine added. "After the speech, the three luminaries mingled with the crowd, and that was where Obama showed his true colors."
Video shows Obama working the crowd at the White House event with Harris dutifully at his side. Biden seems lost in the video. At one point, he reaches out to put a hand on Obama's shoulder. Obama ignores it.
Devine describes the exchange: "Biden’s face grows thunderous. He opens his mouth in a snarl, looking straight at the side of Obama’s head, and says something that sounds like: “It’s not my …” and then stops himself.
"Obama ignores him and reaches into the little group of admirers before him, shaking hands and creasing his face into a handsome smile. At this stage, Harris has turned away from Biden and positioned herself between the two men, mirroring Obama’s charm pantomime.
"Biden grimaces. Then he fixes his eyes on Obama. He reaches around Harris to touch Obama’s arm and attract his attention. Obama, smiling animatedly, ignores him, before maneuvering out of arm’s length."
C-SPAN's video shows that Obama does eventually give in to the inevitable as, Devine notes, he "swivels around to face Biden, and the hand finally lets go. He tosses his head slightly at the old man and raises his eyebrows as if to say, 'What’s up?' As if he didn’t know. Biden relaxes into a beaming smile, dignity restored, and finds a woman nearby for a courtly introduction to his ex-boss. Then Obama gestures lightly and moves off with Harris beside him, Biden trailing."
Another video "showed Biden and Nancy Pelosi passing within inches of one another and avoiding eye contact," Devine noted. "Biden walks in the other direction and raises both arms in a welcoming, 'Look who’s here' gesture to nobody who is visible on camera, but appears to receive no response, so he turns back to where Pelosi had been and finds nothing but a golden curtain. His head turns and there, a few feet away, he sees Obama holding court, before eager acolytes. No one notices Biden. He pauses before turning his back and walking away, shoulders slumped."
Democrat operatives and their Big Media allies fanned out on Wednesday to declare that the RNC’s video clips were maliciously edited and “taken out of context.”
Devine noted: "But, sadly, they were not. You can watch the entire video from beginning to end and your sense of Biden’s abandonment by his party will not change."
Nobody cares for Biden; not even Obama. See this in full. pic.twitter.com/AhrogeCVcj
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) April 6, 2022
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