RUTHFULLY YOURS

In the run-up to the 2020 election, the Biden campaign was gleeful about the flood of prominent Republicans who’d crossed the aisle to support Joe’s candidacy. These Never-Trumpers weren’t just expressing their disdain for President Donald Trump, they were heartily, lovingly, making the case for Joe Biden.

Back then, they were lauded as heroes by the establishment. Today, everyone knows the truth.

These Biden-supporting Republicans were utterly, embarrassingly, dangerously wrong about the man they were touting for president. And we are all now paying an enormous and rapidly increasing price for their arrogant stupidity.

Nothing better encapsulates the “Republicans for Biden” mindset than the statement issued by nearly 500 former national security officials in the fall of 2020 backing Biden.

Forget about the fact that they trafficked in anti-Trump lies such as the “Russian bounty” story and sided against Trump on China, climate change, and other issues of importance to conservatives.

What stands out today is when they claimed that Biden “is the leader our nation needs.”

“It is unthinkable,” these “experts” said in their statement, “that [Biden] would ever utter the phrase ‘I don’t take responsibility at all.’”

Would anyone make such a claim today?

Do a Google search of “Biden blames” and you’ll be flooded with examples of his refusing to take responsibility for anything. Not for the 40-year high inflation gripping the nation and stealing Americans’ savings. Nor for shortages that plague the country. Not for the 600,000-some Americans that the Centers for Disease Control says have died since he took office. Not for the disaster in Afghanistan. Not even for his dismal poll numbers.

Here’s a small sampling of the articles that turn up:

• Biden blames Republicans for classroom ‘culture wars’
• Biden Blames His Low Polling on ‘Psychological Scars’ Americans Have
• Biden Blames ‘Technical Factors’ For Economic Contraction
• Biden blames delta variant, unvaccinated people for weaker-than-expected jobs report
• Biden Blames Four Large Meat Processors for Rising Prices
• Biden blames others for swift collapse in Afghanistan, defends his decision to withdraw troops
• Biden blames Putin, ‘ultra-MAGA’ for inflation, vows to give voters ‘simple’ explanations

At one press conference, a reporter asked “Do you take any responsibility for the inflation in this country? Do you take any responsibility, your policies?

Biden’s response: “I think our policies helped, not hurt.”

At another event, which took place when the COVID death toll had reached 800,000 (it now tops 1 million), a reporter asked Biden “do you have a statement on your responsibility? And why haven’t you asked China to do more, to be transparent on the origins?”

Biden’s answer was … to smile and walk away.

So, let’s take a moment and look at what other Republicans-for-Biden were telling the public about the Democrat before the election, and see how well their judgment holds up. (And, keep in mind, these are people who held themselves up as moral superiors to those awful Tump supporters.)

John Kasich: “I’m sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat. They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I don’t believe that because I know the measure of the man.”

Christie Todd Whitman: “We need to elect a leader matched to the moment, someone who can restore competence to the Oval Office and unify the country. Joe Biden is that leader.”

Bill Cohen: “We are in serious need of a leader with optimism and competence who gives us hope. Joe Biden is that leader.”

Rick Snyder: “Biden is the clear choice to put our country back on a positive path.”

Cindy McCain: “There’s only one candidate in this race who stands up for our values as a nation, and that is @JoeBiden.”

Meg Whitman: “Joe Biden … has a plan that will strengthen our economy for working people and small-business owners. For me, the choice is simple. I’m with Joe.”

43 Alumni for Biden: “We need someone who will quickly course correct and show us the path forward.”

Colin Powell: “What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul.”

Jeff Flake: “We need to elect someone … who will stop the chaos and reverse the damage.”

Twenty U.S. attorneys: “We firmly believe that Vice President Joe Biden is the candidate who can – and will – provide the leadership we need to … to address the deep-seated societal issues that are roiling our country today. We give him our strongest endorsement.”

Notice how none of these people is currently bragging about how they helped get Biden elected.

Did the endorsement of prominent Republicans make a difference in the 2020 elections? We’d argue that it did. At the very least, they made plenty of people who’d otherwise have voted Republican comfortable voting for Biden by making him seem like safe choice.

In a close election, small changes matter. And, no matter what you think of the integrity of the 2020 vote counts, it was a close election.

Defenders of these Republicans might say, well, who could have known that Biden would turn out to be such a disaster? Well, we did. So did many other conservatives would were willing to stand up to the mob.

There was an alternative path Republicans-for-Biden could have taken that might have altered the election’s outcome.

They could have said that they find Trump a nasty, brutish, uncouth, loudmouth whom they’d never invite over for tea, but that he managed to do more to advance conservative policies than any president, including the beloved Ronald Reagan. They could have made the case that policies, not mean tweets, matter. They could have pointed out that most of the attacks on Trump were bogus.

They could have said that they would hold Trump accountable for any transgressions, but that Biden was an inept, bedraggled, half-wit, who was in serious mental decline, would be a disaster for the country, and who had no business applying to be a Delaware school bus driver, let alone leader of the free world.

They could have. But chose not to.

We’re not supporters of the left’s cancel culture tactics, but in this case, we’d encourage everyone to ignore anything those “Republicans for Biden” have to say about anything … until they own up to their epic mistake, and apologize for backing Joe Biden.