For the past decade or so, modern American politics have increasingly moved towards professional wrestling.
From the outsized characters, to the deliriously cheering crowds, to the utterly bombastic rhetoric, you’d be excused for being unsure whether you’re at a political rally or Wrestlemania.
Now, are modern politics adopting yet another key tenet of pro wrestling in the form of pre-written scripts?
A pair of curious blunders from two of America’s most notable outlets have some people now thinking that the results of the 2024 election have already been decided — and it doesn’t bode well for incumbent President Joe Biden.
On Thursday, The Washington Post came out and referred to Hunter Biden as “the former president’s son,” a curious distinction given that Biden appears to be both alive and the 2024 general election hasn’t occurred yet.
The article has since been corrected, but internet archives confirm the curious verbiage used by the Post.
Then, on Friday, CBS News echoed that same verbiage while describing the president:
CBS just called Biden a “former president” ? pic.twitter.com/tvAJlarFmM
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 18, 2023
Again, the mistake has since been corrected, but it’s certainly odd that in the span of two days, two major publications would make the exact same mistake about the exact same person’s title.
Do these publications know something we don’t? Was this, to put it in Hollywood terms, akin to a “leaked script”? Is Vince McMahon taking an indefinite leave from WWE to write scripts for American politics?
Or was this a matter of speaking something into existence? Was this, in fact, wishful thinking? Are Biden’s brutal approval ratings and cratering economy finally catching up to him?
Adding fuel to the wild speculation: Many people have prognosticated that former first lady Michelle Obama is being groomed to take over the presidency.
Now, as fun as it is to put on the tin foil hat, Occam’s razor would suggest that this was simply the matter of an inattentive editor and/or inattentive social media administrator.
So it was all just a coincidental mistake… no harm, no foul, right?
Well, not quite. Because this controversy highlights a deeper issue the incumbent president is facing when it comes to his re-election campaign.
Namely, Biden has been so genuinely ineffectual, if not outright detrimental, as president, that even the least conspiratorial of minds have to stop and think for a brief moment, “Wait, is Biden actually being written out in real-time by the Democrats?”
No, the overwhelming odds are that two major outlets just happened to make eerily similar mistakes within 48 hours of each other.
But the simple fact that people are even subconsciously thinking about Biden’s presidency in the past tense already speaks volumes about his current viability — and none of it says anything good.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.