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He stares in confusion, claims he just spoke to Gorbachev, and accidentally blows up the world.
The brutal taunt has been seen by millions.
At the same time, the Democrats are arguing about how to convince the voters that Joe Biden is sharp enough for four new years.
The number of Americans who knew the Italian comedian Maurizio Crozza, 64, before the weekend is probably a quick count.
But his brutal sketch about Joe Biden was picked up by a conservative American account on X and has now been seen by close to eight million people.
The scene that was shown on Italian television is for many democrats a painful proof that it is not only with a Donald Trump in the White House that the United States can be “laughed at in the world”.
Blowing up the world
“Biden” stumbles confusedly to the presidential podium and begins a reasoning about a conversation he had with “Israeli President Mikhail Gorbachev”.
Then he talks about the “wonderful” film “Mars Attacks” where “Netanyahu sings”.
The sketch ends with the “president” saying he forgot to take his pills and taking out the nuclear bag to “call the doctor”.
He presses the big red button and everything disappears in a sea of fire.
Arguing about the problem
For the Democrats, the headache of public opinion that Joe Biden is too old to be re-elected is an unusually difficult problem.
He won’t get any younger.
Instead, the White House and the party’s upper echelons are arguing internally about how best to communicate that Biden is still sharp enough to be president, writes Newsweek in an article with the headline “Joe Biden’s age problem is tearing the Democrats apart”.
The problem became even more acute after special prosecutor Robert Hur’s report earlier in February following the investigation into Biden’s handling of sensitive documents.
Wants help from others
Documents were found among debris and broken furniture in Biden’s garage and in a drawer under a television.
How chose not to prosecute, in part because a jury was sure to see him as a “well-meaning older man with a bad memory.”
Some strategists advocate that other top Democrats should be out in the media and assure voters that Joe Biden is in good shape and not suffering from cognitive decline.
– In a sense, the special prosecutor did us a favor because some of us shouted loudly from the sidelines that people who work with him should regularly come out and say that he is doing a good job, says a former high-ranking source in the White House to Newsweek.
“Gives nothing”
Others believe that it must be the president himself who convinces the people.
Many within the party think that he has so far not shown forcefully enough that he is not too old, writes Newsweek.
When party leaders praise his commitment, energy and health at the same time as people see his stumbling gait and how he often stumbles over his words, it appears exaggerated.
– That representatives should be out and say that he is perfectly sharp, that gives him nothing. Biden has to do most of the work himself, says Democratic strategist Tad Devine to Newsweek.
Pointing at Trump
One of Biden’s advisers tells the newspaper that the president’s misstatements and blunders should not be seen as evidence that he is no longer up to par.
Instead, he believes that not enough attention is paid to how physically well-preserved he is for being a man in his 80s.
– He trains several times a week with a personal trainer and he is in better physical condition than he was 15, 20 years ago, says the adviser.
– He is much more disciplined now.
The Democrats also believe that Biden is in better condition and more “stable” than Donald Trump, 77, who they believe “forgets facts, says wrong and lies”.