As the first debate between Trump and Biden on the night of Thursday, June 27, went from bad to worse for Biden, a narrative quickly emerged in which Team Biden attempted to explain away Biden’s horrible performance. That claim was the elderly president, who made all manner of gaffes during the debate, had a “cold” and that’s why he did so badly.
That narrative came from White House insider who spoke to NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell. She, in a post on X that came as Biden’s already bad debate performance deteriorated, shared that attempt at an excuse by writing, “NEW: Two sources familiar with the situation say ‘President Biden has a cold.’” O’Donnell later added, “More: multiple sources say the president was given COVID test and is negative for COVID.”
Right off the bat, the commenters on O’Donnell’s post weren’t having it and jokes about the cover-up attempt. “LMAOOOO THE DESPERATION 😭,” a popular account that goes by “Clandestine” wrote. “‘No it’s not the flu, dear, it’s just the Common Alzheimers,'” joked the satirical “U.S. Ministry of Truth” account. “Mop up operation,” Cernovich said.
Even ABC News contributor Sarah Isgur chimed in and noted that the bad debate performance wasn’t “spinnable” for the obviously desperate Team Biden campaign that had failed to set low expectations for the elderly president. She said, “The entire Biden campaign team committed malpractice by not being out there for a week resetting expectations. This is not spinable now.”
Responding to Isgur’s post, a few commenters chimed in with funny responses that mocked Team Biden’s coverup attempt. One commenter, for example, wrote, “I’ve never heard someone call dementia a cold before.” Another commenter on Isgur’s post joked, “He’s done. There’s no way back. This was the last chance. He rolled the dice and … snake eyes.”
Other people similarly pulled no punches when obliterating O’Donnell’s post. Rep. Andy Biggs, for example, the congressman behind Congress’s tough stance on Mayorkas, said, in a funny quote tweet of O’Donnell’s post, “I didn’t realize that a cold caused mumbling, stuttering, or staring at nothing for extended periods of time…”
Similarly, Fox News Channel’s Joe Concha wrote, “Oh Kelly, this is why zero people trust your news organization.” Commenting on why O’Donnell might have been the one the Biden Campaign shared the “cold” excuse with, a commenter on Concha’s post said, “@KellyO Was one of the reporters on the list of safe reporters Biden could call on, so there’s that.”
"*" indicates required fields
Watch the hilarious compilation of Biden’s worst moments put together by the Trump campaign here:
Donald Trump Jr., commenting on the debate on the morning after it, added that Biden’s poor health was on display during it, writing, “The Dem-Media liars spent 4 years telling Americans that Joe Biden was totally healthy and any suggestion otherwise was just a right-wing conspiracy theory…After last night’s debate disaster for Biden, I hope everyone can see how full of shit these people really are!!!!”