Democrats’ gaslighting takes a new and disturbing turn

Overcome with Trump derangement syndrome after the brash billionaire from New York launched his candidacy in June 2015, the Left threw out the playbook for how political campaigns should be run. Although politicians have been fighting dirty throughout history, up until then, most had managed to stay within the bounds of decency and the limitations of the law. 

The 2016 launch of the Steele dossier, a collection of derogatory and fictional stories about former President Donald Trump designed to derail his candidacy and then sabotage his presidency, marked the end of traditional electioneering in the U.S. and the normalization of Soviet-style campaign tactics. This was necessary, the Democrats rationalized, because they had to save American “democracy” from this evil man by any available means. And, as we now know, the dossier was merely the first in a never-ending series of fraudulent schemes orchestrated by the Left to destroy Trump.

But until this week, they typically chose narratives that were difficult or impossible to either prove or disprove. For example, when the “Dirty 51” former intelligence community officials signed a public letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story had all the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign days before a 2020 presidential debate, there was no way to confirm it or deny it. And given the esteem in which the distinguished signers were held, most voters tended to believe them.

At any rate, emboldened by the effectiveness of their many hoaxes and by the fact that no one has ever been held accountable for their complicity, the Left’s deceptions have become increasingly more daring –- and dangerous. Their current lawfare campaign against Trump is perhaps their most brazen plot yet.  

But it’s their latest attempt to explain away video recordings of President Joe Biden’s very public and very humiliating senior moments at the recent G7 summit, the Juneteenth celebration, and last weekend’s Los Angeles fundraiser, that truly baffles me. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stood at the press room podium on Monday and insisted these videos had been edited by Republicans to make Biden appear dazed and confused, and therefore, unfit for the presidency. Her explanation was immediately echoed by MSNBC host Nicole Wallace and the rest of the legacy media.

This narrative is troubling because it is a clear effort by the Left to band together and convince voters to disbelieve what they can easily see with their own eyes, a common practice in totalitarian regimes. It recalls a famous line from George Orwell’s 1984, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Anyone with a brain can watch the videos and see for themselves that there are no breaks or edits in the recordings. In all three videos, the camera remains trained on Biden.

For anyone confused by what constitutes a “break” in a recording, the following 14-second video of Biden accepting Trump’s challenge to a debate last month contains five of them.

The reality is that following Biden’s attendance at the events commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, earlier this month and at the recent G7 summit in Puglia, Italy, the whole world became witness to his physical and cognitive decline. His frail condition and moments of confusion were impossible to hide. One diplomat who attended the summit told The Sun that Biden had been “losing focus” and that “[i]t’s the worst he has ever been.” Other sources expressed shock at Biden’s deterioration and called his performance “embarrassing.” 

Nevertheless, in a futile attempt at damage control, the White House and the Biden campaign have advanced the lie that the video recordings of the president are “cheap fakes.” And rather than practicing real journalism, the legacy media has blithely followed their marching orders. 

Doubling down on the lie, the Biden campaign has set up a task force to fight “cheap fakes.” According to Fox News, “the team will police malfunction videos.” 

It was also widely reported this week that CBS News has begun placing warning labels on videos of the president. All of this is an insult to the intelligence of American voters.

Asked for a comment on the situation, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung told Breitbart News on Tuesday that the videos of Biden “malfunctioning in public are real.” He said, “The truth hurts. When the Biden campaign is confronted with that cold, hard reality, they offer ridiculous claims that anyone who clearly sees Biden acting like a brain-dead dope is part of some media-wide conspiracy.”

Elizabeth Stauffer is a Research Fellow at the Sixteenth Council. Our Fellows’ Opinions does not necessarily represent the position of the Council