Joe Biden stutters?
Did you know that Joe Biden stutters? I didn’t, because I have never heard him stuttering, although I’m old enough to have followed his political career from 1972, when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware, through the time he rose to prominence during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and the years he was vice president during the Obama administration. So, I was surprised when I first heard that he suffered from stuttering, a meme that has been repeated for the past few months following the September 12th debate among Democratic primary candidates.
During that debate, Biden said at one point that people could “opt in” to get Medicare-like insurance under his health care plan. Soon after, Julian Castro differentiated Biden’s stance from his own by stating that in his plan people wouldn’t have to opt in because they would be automatically enrolled. In response, Biden stated that he had never said people would have to opt in. It was inexplicable because millions of people heard what he had clearly said on national television and now they were hearing him denying it. How to explain it? Castro called him out on it: “You just said that two minutes ago. You just said two minutes ago they would have to buy in.” Biden assumed a pained expression, but had no good answer. This was in line with his performance during the debate, where he had been speaking in word salads and often started a sentence, didn’t complete it, veered off to another subject, started another sentence, didn’t complete it either, repeated this as many as three or four times, and never actually rounded out his thought. He also uttered nonsense, frequently used verbal crutches like “the fact of the matter is” and “look,” used body language that didn’t match what he was saying, raised his voice unnecessarily, appeared to be angry where he shouldn’t have been, given the context, or reverted to the pained expression where he furrows his brow and half closes his eyes, all of which became his trademark style of speaking in subsequent debates.
This was not the Joe Biden I knew and it raised questions in my mind about his mental acuity, Yes, we all knew he was prone to verbal gaffes, but this was a horse of a different color–a very vulnerable horse. Trump would make mincemeat out of him if they got on the same stage.
Meanwhile, I thought Julian Castro was perfectly entitled to point out Biden’s mental lapse. Immediately, however, the pundits started criticizing him for his “low blow” and for playing the “age card.” Some even suggested that he should apologize and predicted that he would wash out in the race because of the revulsion of Democratic voters enamored of Biden. Maybe they created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe they subconsciously or consciously want to throw the towel whenever possible to the corporate Democrat preferred by the establishment.
Eventually, as Biden continued to manifest the same symptoms of disjointed thoughts and verbal incoherence these pundits started pushing the notion that Biden stutters. I think in this case their goal is definitely conscious: to continue to push Biden because the other leading candidates, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are not corporate Democrats and represent a threat to the establishment–a mild threat really, but a threat that makes the establishment and its servile news media fear what could happen if people instead of corporations gain some power in this country.
Let me be clear that I would support Biden 100% if he were the Democratic candidate, because we cannot survive eight years of proto-fascist Trumpian dysfunction. But let’s look at this notion that Biden’s problem in the debates has been his stuttering.
First, it is clear to anyone who has seen someone stuttering that Biden does not stutter. If anything, until recently, Biden had been a loquacious and effective orator. According to the Stuttering Foundation, “Stuttering is a communication disorder in which the flow of speech is broken by repetitions (li-li-like this), prolongations (lllllike this), or abnormal stoppages (no sound) of sounds and syllables.” (1) People who stutter may have difficulties getting out the words, but they are not necessarily incoherent, unable to complete sentences, speak in word salads or utter nonsense. Also, according the Stuttering Foundation, “Biden is one of many leaders from all backgrounds and political parties who has dealt effectively with stuttering [. . .] Using techniques like those outlined in Self-Therapy for the Stutterer, [Biden] practiced reading aloud in front of a mirror and worked hard to overcome this distressing disorder.” (2) By the time he first appeared on the national stage, he was no longer a stutterer. That’s why no one has heard Joe Biden stuttering since he was a child.
So, much of the media has been trying to promote a false narrative that might inspire sympathy and compassion toward “Uncle Joe,” the ultimate nice guy who is now made out to be a victim of agism. “He’s just old,” I have heard it said. At age 78, however, Bernie Sanders, is one year older than Biden and he has no trouble articulating his thoughts, stringing together complete sentences or making a coherent argument. The problem with Biden is his mind, not his age. Is this the candidate we are going to put in the ring with a vicious and unscrupulous fighter skilled in dishing out low blows? How is he going to address criticism about his history of plagiarism; his disgraceful performance regarding Anita Hill, when he led the judiciary committee and failed to protect her or call other witnesses that supported her allegations against Clarence Thomas; or his years of work in the service of big banks and the credit card industry? Are the Democrats going to repeat the mistake of 2016 and put forth the weakest of all possible candidates?
I hope history does not repeat itself, at least so soon.
Amaury Cruz is a writer and political activist from Miami Beach who has retired from the practice of law.
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1 https://www.stutteringhelp.org/faq
2 https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/politics-and-stuttering-mix-well-vice-president-biden-part-distinguished-group
