If Biden doesn’t ace the first debate, will he be replaced at the convention?

In our age of hyperpartisan politics, it’s easy to forget that the president of the United States is also the commander in chief of our armed forces. The media forgets it; the politicians forget it; the academics forget it; and the American people forget it.

Those who don’t forget it are our adversaries. Be they China, Russia, terrorists or the drug cartels with their own armies and advanced weapons systems.

As we have seen of late, the world seems to be tilting more unstable and dangerous by the week. Be it the barbaric attack by Hamas upon Israel, the nuclear weapons programs of Iran and North Korea, the drug cartels’ growing strength or the war in Ukraine, which some (myself included) fear could trigger World War III. Escalation of any or all would make our petty and partisan differences look foolish in the flash of the unthinkable.

In the midst of all that, our adversaries realize that the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States is President Joe Biden. Some of those enemies will view an 81-year-old man with perceived cognitive issues as a net plus for their plans to destabilize the U.S. and other parts of the world. 

These enemies — much like Biden’s political opponents and allies in the U.S., members of the media, political scientists and the voters themselves — are searching for markers or proof that America’s commander in chief is in fact either slipping mentally and much less capable of carrying out his duties to the nation or is still “with the program” and able to function mentally at the required demanding levels. 

That being the case, the scheduled presidential debate on June 27 will be the most crucial test yet to determine Biden’s mental acuity. Those who mean harm to our nation will be watching that first debate with calculated interest.

The pressure on Biden to “ace” the debate will be enormous. His latest major gaffe is not creating confidence among his supporters, while potentially creating increased hope among our adversaries.

While at a Juneteenth celebration at the White House on Monday, Biden not only appeared to freeze solid for a minute, but then, when later delivering remarks, not only slurred his speech, but appeared to say something the New York Post reported as: “She know long! She knew suhlongasuhijeruhhnied, our freedom can never be secured.”

What’s worse for the president and his supporters is that this slurring and gaffe are on video for all to watch and re-watch. And they are watching, by the millions, since it was posted after the event. All but the delusional or rabidly partisan would admit that this latest freezing and gibberish is a very worrying sign.

One such person who does seem very concerned is pollster Nate Silver. Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight — and someone many conservatives believe to be a Democratic Party sympathizer — posted on Monday that Biden’s latest record-low approval numbers might be enough to trigger him to drop out of the election: “Biden just hit a new all-time low in approval (37.4%) at 538 yesterday. Dropping out would be a big risk. But there’s some threshold below which continuing to run is a bigger risk. Are we there yet? I don’t know. But it’s more than fair to ask.”

Not only is it “fair to ask,” it’s critical to ask.

Another major name asking is New York Times columnist Bret Stephens. In a column earlier this week titled “The most courageous thing that Joe Biden can do,” the previously Biden-voting Stephens warned: “Biden is sleepwalking to defeat.” 

The warnings from Silver, Stephens and others are critical because aside from an outright health emergency, there is only one more “political window” left to take the president out of the running and switch in another candidate in his place. That window being at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago beginning on August 19, where Biden’s delegates could be released to vote for a more able Democrat. 

As we bicker over our petty partisan issues while burrowing deeper into ideological silos far removed from reality, our adversaries around the globe grow more dangerous and more calculating.

Again, Joe Biden is not only the president, but the commander in chief of our military. It is well past time that our national security be part of the debate regarding the president’s ability — or lack thereof — to carry out his duties.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.