Biden tells Obama ‘she’s not as strong as me’ at Ethel Kennedy service, lip-reader says
A viral caught-on-camera conversation between Joe Biden and Barack Obama has been deciphered by a professional lip reader. Here’s what they said.
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President Joe Biden griped to former president Barack Obama that “she” is “not as strong as me” — with Mr Obama agreeing “that’s true” — in a stunning off-mic conversation deciphered for New York Post by a professional lip reader.
The apparent candid assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris’ standing going into the November 5 election occurred on Wednesday afternoon as America’s two most recent Democratic presidents conversed at Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service in Washington, The Post reports.
“She’s not as strong as me,” said Mr Biden, 81, according to the translation, which was produced by analysing the on-video lip movements during the discussion.
“I know … that’s true,” Mr Obama agreed, adding, “We have time.”
“Yeah, we’ll get it in time,” said Mr Biden, who was forced by fellow Democrats to relinquish the party’s nomination in favour of Ms Harris on July 21 in a mutiny that Mr Obama was believed to support.
Moments earlier, Mr Obama said “it’s important that we have some time together” in a possible reference to campaigning alongside Ms Harris.
The dialogue was translated for The Post by Jeremy Freeman, a London-based forensic lip reader who was born deaf and for 16 years has served as a University College London-certified expert witness for litigants, the police and journalists.
Although Ms Harris’ name was not included in Mr Freeman’s transcription, it’s unclear to whom else the conversation could have pertained.
Mr Freeman described the conservation as “very supportive” and said he detected “no tension” between Mr Obama and Mr Biden, as had been speculated in viral commentary due to Mr Obama shaking his head at one point.
Democratic sources were divided when asked about the translation — with some saying they believe it was an honest take on the state of the 2024 race and others expressing such strong disbelief that they questioned the accuracy of the script.
“From the outset, there has been widespread concern that Harris was not a strong alternative to Biden, who clearly was a sinking ship. So much so (that) multiple House members floated the idea of an open convention or removing Harris from the ticket along with Biden,” said one Democratic source.
“Democrats essentially robbed Peter to pay Paul and are now stuck with a less likeable sinking ship.”
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates scoffed, “A ‘lip reading expert’? Did your usual right-wing soothsayer have their out-of-office up? Only President Biden and President Obama know what they discussed, but this certainly wasn’t it.”
A source close to Mr Obama didn’t deny the translation but said, “Only President Obama and President Biden know what they discussed yesterday. Any assertion otherwise is ridiculous.”
Two former Biden White House officials who are working to support Ms Harris’ candidacy, meanwhile, told The Post that they were stunned by the translation and doubted that it could be accurate — with one urging “a new lip reader” and the other saying it’s “not even like (Biden) to say that”.
Ms Harris, 59, surged in polling shortly after replacing Mr Biden, who initially angrily refused to step aside, as the Democratic candidate against former president Donald Trump, but she has since slipped in critical swing-state polling.
The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls shows Ms Harris trailing Mr Trump, 78, in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The Republican has outperformed polls in each of the past two presidential elections.
Mr Biden initially argued that he had earned the nomination with more than 14 million votes and only token opposition in the state nominating contests earlier in the year.
He ultimately decided to drop out and endorse Ms Harris amid mounting pressure from Democrats questioning his mental acuity after he struggled to articulate his positions in a June 27 debate with Mr Trump.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) helped lead that mutiny, pointing to bleak polling showing Mr Biden could doom down-ballot Democrats — while a friend of Mr Obama’s, actor George Clooney, wrote a scathing New York Times op-ed detailing his concerns about Mr Biden’s cognitive fitness.
Ms Pelosi, 84, also attended the Kennedy matriarch’s marathon three-hour memorial service near the White House.
She and Mr Biden have not spoken since the former Speaker helped force the President into retirement, and Mr Biden at one point seemed to wince during her remarks as she hailed the incumbent, Mr Obama and former President Bill Clinton, who also was in attendance.
This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Biden tells Obama ‘she’s not as strong as me’ at Ethel Kennedy service, lip-reader says
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