President Biden’s cognitive incompetence renders him unfit for office. But so too does his performance over the last three-plus years that left America with a broken border, spiraling crime, high inflation, and a world on fire. 

Since Joe Biden came out at the presidential debate as mentally incapacitated, the country’s focus has been on his continued service as commander-in-chief and whether Democrats should replace him as their candidate for November’s election. In fighting off calls that he be replaced, Biden and his apologists have taken two tacks. First, they are pretending his debate performance did not reveal his underlying cognitive decline, framing it as merely a “bad night,” caused by jet lag, over-preparedness, bad make-up, a cold, or a combination of all. Simultaneously, Biden and those defending the president posit that for all his shortcomings, Biden is still the better option because he tells the truth, Trump is a danger to our democracy, and Biden has a team helping run America.

The only aspect of either tack that tracks reality is that an unknown inner circle is making policy decisions for the Biden administration. But rather than assure Americans that Joe Biden should remain in office, the fact that other stealth leaders are assisting in the direction of the executive branch should damn not just Joe Biden but Democrats at large because the Biden administration has been disastrous for the country.

Never have the consequences of an administration change given Americans such a stark contrast in the effects of competing policies as that seen over the last four years. The near immediate and absolute reversal by President Joe Biden of Trump administration policies so quickly whiplashed the state of the country and the world that neither political spin nor a blackout by the propaganda press could blind voters to the damage the Biden administration has wrought on the country.

Before the president’s disastrous debate, his administration’s flawed policies and incompetent leadership — on everything from border security to the economy to foreign affairs — left him dragged with the worst unfavorable ratings of any incumbent president ever seeking reelection, with only 37 percent of Americans viewing Biden favorably. But following his dementia-filled performance at the debate, Biden’s mental competency became a bigger issue.

Ironically, in seeking to reframe the narrative, the president leaned into his weaknesses, telling a crowd at a campaign rally the next day, “Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” before declaring: “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.”

Not only does Biden not know how to do his job, but neither does the cabal running the country in his stead. And while his puppeteers may “know how to get things done,” the country suffers daily for every task completed.

Yet just as Biden and his handlers seek to bronze over his mental failings, they are pushing false narratives to rehabilitate the president’s disastrous record. Biden’s first attempt here came during his disastrous debate when he falsely proclaimed: “Truth is, I’m the only president this century, that doesn’t have any, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did.”

As even CNN confirmed, however, Biden was blatantly lying. And the “truth is,” 13 members of the armed forces were killed in the suicide bombing during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, three more soldiers were killed in Jordan earlier this year, and two U.S. Navy Seals died during an operation near Somalia.

The president likewise sought to bolster his record as commander-in-chief by boasting to George Stephanopoulos during his first interview following the debate, “I’m the guy that shut Putin down. No one thought could happen.”

Not only has Biden not “shut Putin down,” but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine occurred on the president’s watch and had its roots in the failures of the Obama-Biden administration. Conversely, Putin stayed put during the Trump administration, after having invaded Crimea during Joe Biden’s time as vice president. 

The disaster in the Middle East also lies firmly at the door of the Biden administration, which released $6 billion to Iran in exchange for American hostages and provided the terror-sponsoring regime access to another $10 billion. Two months later, Iran-sponsored Hamas invaded Israel, killing more Jews than the world had seen since the Holocaust, and kidnapping 100-plus more. Since then, the Biden administration has “kept the billions flowing to Iran,” with the current president reversing Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy by pulling back on sanctions — increasing Iran’s oil exports by some 80 percent. Meanwhile, Iran’s funding for Hamas has exploded to $350 million over the last year, even as the Gaza terror organization continues to hold Americans hostage.

Yet, like an arsonist firefighter bragging to the local television station of his heroics, Joe Biden boasted to Stephanopoulos on Friday, “In terms of successes, yes. I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be comin’ to fruition.” That supposed “peace plan,” beyond being not yet attained, does nothing to end the growing conflict in Lebanon and Yemen, with the open purse Biden provided to Iran funding both Hezbollah and the Houthi.

These catastrophic consequences are just one of the more graphic encapsulations of the damage done by the Biden administration. The border crisis provides a second stark visual proving policies matter and elections have consequences. And while the inflation Democrats caused may not be seen in corporate media reports, voters feel it nonetheless — whether Joe Biden is running the country or it’s an oligarchy in his stead. 

Margot Cleveland is an investigative journalist and legal analyst and serves as The Federalist’s senior legal correspondent. Margot’s work has been published at The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, the New Criterion, National Review Online, Townhall.com, the Daily Signal, USA Today, and the Detroit Free Press. She is also a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio programs and on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. Cleveland is also of counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland where you can read more about her greatest accomplishments—her dear husband and dear son. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.