Joe Biden and his presidential campaign would be downright piteous if Biden himself were not so loathsome or if his presidency had been halfway competent.
As it is, however, the attempt to pass off the 81-year-old president as the most effective Democrat for the job has descended into absolute farce.
But even with a long list of disasters behind them, the Biden campaign's news conference Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse where his rival, former President Donald Trump, is on trial might have been the worst disaster yet.
As the good folks on the social media platform X were quick to point out, the whole affair was botched from beginning to end.
By staging the event in front of the courthouse where Trump is facing charges of falsifying business records, the Biden campaign gave the lie to the president's claims of neutrality regarding Trump's prosecutions.
Further undermining those claims, the campaign chose as its "special guests" actor Robert De Niro, the once-legendary actor now known for his vulgar tirades against the former president, as well as two Capitol police officers, Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, who helped spread the "insurrection" narrative about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion.
"Everything about what the Biden campaign did this morning was absolutely hilarious," conservative commentator Greg Price noted on X.
"They spent the whole thing getting drowned out by Trump supporters yelling 'FJB' and they had to answer questions such as 'is Trump a threat to all these wars Biden has gotten us in,'" he said.
WARNING: The following videos contain vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive.
Everything about what the Biden campaign did this morning was absolutely hilarious.
They decided it would be great idea to show that Biden isn't involved in prosecuting his political opponent by having a press conference outside the NYC courtroom where they also got the date… pic.twitter.com/qV6t4FieRt
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 28, 2024
Washington Times columnist Tim Murtaugh also shared his comments along with a video in which a car horn drowned out De Niro's remarks.
"Nothing says 'this isn’t political' like the Biden campaign sending one of the most political movie stars in Hollywood to hold an embarrassing press conference outside the Trump trial," he wrote. "The beeping horn car alarm is just the cherry on top."
Nothing says “this isn’t political” like the Biden campaign sending one of the most political movie stars in Hollywood to hold an embarrassing press conference outside the Trump trial.
The beeping horn car alarm is just the cherry on top.
DeNiro probably wanted another take. pic.twitter.com/0w59B0VAEN
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) May 28, 2024
CBS News correspondent Matt Pieper posted a video of the actor and Trump supporters hurling insults at one another.
Robert De Niro gets into a shouting match with someone wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while leaving a Biden-Harris campaign presser across the street from Trump’s criminal trial. #RobertDeNiro #DeNiro #DonaldTrump #Trump #TrumpTrial pic.twitter.com/yRFMvftXA4
— Matt Pieper (@MattPieper) May 28, 2024
The event started with the Biden campaign's communication director, Michael Tyler, saying, "We're not here today because of what's going on over there. We're here today because you all [the media] are here."
Whomever made the decision to have the Biden campaign have a presser outside of the courthouse is a buffoon 😂
What a gift to the Trump campaign! Celebrating the targeting and attempted imprisonment of your political opponent is not the win they think it is……😂 pic.twitter.com/wmyzvRCpT8
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) May 28, 2024
Sure you were.
From beginning to end, this was an idiotic proposition from Biden campaign officials, and it went about as well in execution as it did in theory.
The whole time, they were claiming they hadn't picked that spot because of the Trump trial occurring therein -- but if that were so, why were they there at all?
Despite the strenuous denials, the campaign could not help but seem to be supporting the idea that these trials have been political persecutions, plain and simple.
The star of the news conference, De Niro, comported himself terribly, coming off as unhinged in his remarks and then thin-skinned and mean-spirited when he got into a shouting match with Trump supporters.
Finally, as could be seen in the clips from the news coverage, car alarms and shouts from Trump supporters could be heard throughout the entire conference, making the former president's support seem much more robust than Biden's, even in one of the bluest cities in the country.
Overall, this ill-advised news conference couldn't have done much of anything to help Biden's chances in November.
Rather, it was much more likely to hurt him.
