Over the last three years, we’ve heard a lot about the dangers of questioning election outcomes and election integrity.
One of the main advocates of warning about the dangers of undermining faith in our democratic system and the election is President Joe Biden.
But questions are swirling about how genuine his lectures about safeguarding democracy have been.
On Tuesday, Biden was attending a rally in favor of access to abortion and made a really bizarre statement, so bizarre that it is entirely unclear where it came from.
“Hello, Virginia,” the president said — that’s not the bizarre part of his statement — that came next. He added, “And the real governor, Terry McAuliffe!”
Watch the video below:
Election Denier Joe Biden: "Hello, Virginia! And the real governor, Terry McAuliffe!" pic.twitter.com/NFU7Uqu0ja
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 23, 2024
His comment was aimed at former — emphasis on former — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who left office in 2018. McAuliffe attempted a return to the governor’s mansion but was defeated by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
Youngkin won by roughly 63,000 votes, which is not exactly a close race. And it was not as though there was a massive effort to reverse the results citing voter fraud in the state.
So it really is not clear why Biden decided to deem the person who was rejected by the voters the “real governor.”
Perhaps it was a poor attempt at a joke.
But several commentators were not so quick to laugh it off:
Biden is shuttled across the river to promote nine-month, taxpayer-funded elective abortion-on-demand — and tosses in some casual election denialism while he’s at it. https://t.co/DRf0CDJubJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 23, 2024
Wow.
— Michael Seifert (@realmichaelseif) January 23, 2024
I've been reliably informed that denying the results of elections is the worst sin any American can commit.
Denying election results means you're an insurrectionist and is worse than 9/11 and Pearl Harbor combined. https://t.co/QGzTcFjSLt
Reckless idiocy. Lesson ought to be that it's wrong for folks on both sides to engage in this nonsense, not that one side's excesses justify or excuse the other side's. https://t.co/jhCEQMuCH9
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) January 23, 2024
Has any president been less actually funny than Biden? Carter, maybe. https://t.co/K7OvGWppR2
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) January 24, 2024
Even assuming this is a joke, it’s rather off brand for the guy claiming that his campaign is defending “democracy” from the other guy. https://t.co/sv6wTn91Jp
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 24, 2024
Youngkin shared the video and wrote, “Mr. President, I’m right here.”
Mr. President, I’m right here. https://t.co/wSpbqmLX9w
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) January 23, 2024
This is monstrously stupid, even if intended as a silly joke. If you’re going to make the other side’s election denial central to your campaign, the last thing you want to do is this nonsense. https://t.co/J8S3SozFzg
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) January 23, 2024
Even if this was a joke, and not Biden doubting the election results or thinking it’s 2014 and he’s the vice president, it’s not a good look.
If you spend years insisting that raising doubts about election results is pretty much the worst thing you can do, making it into a punchline just makes you look insincere about your warnings.