President Biden bizarrely called House Speaker Mike Johnson “dead on arrival” after the Louisiana Republican knocked him for trying to “radically overhaul” the Supreme Court in an election year.
Told by a reporter that Johnson had called his proposed overhaul “dead on arrival” in the House, Biden oddly remarked: “That’s what he is.”
“He is — dead on arrival,” said when taking shouted questions from reporters on the tarmac about Johnson’s response.
“This is incoherent and pathetic (Naturally Andrew Bates reposted it),” Johnson spokesman Taylor Haulsee posted on X, calling out the senior deputy White House press secretary who vehemently denied reports for weeks about his boss preparing to drop out of the 2024 race.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Johnson later reposted the video of the president’s remark to his X account, including a clip from Biden’s disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump during which the latter said: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”
Biden, 81, suspended his re-election effort last week and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
In an Oval Office address last Thursday, he signaled that he would soon “call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy,” having delivered a fiery address weeks before on the ruling that granted absolute immunity to presidents for official acts.
Johnson said the president’s plan to impose term limits and a code of ethics, among other changes proposed for the high court, “would tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.”
“This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court,” Johnson said Monday. “Their calls to expand and pack the Court will soon resume.”
“It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions,” he added. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), 77 – the first sitting member of Congress to publicly call on Biden to step aside – greeted the president after he descended the shorter staircase off Air Force Once.
Biden smiled and shook Doggett’s hand before posing for a selfie with Rep. Al Green (D., Texas), according to pool reports of the touchdown.
“Great to welcome President Biden at @AUStinAirport. A true statesman and patriot. We are now making our way to the LBJ Library to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and reaffirm our commitment to a more equal and just future,” Doggett posted on X of their interaction.
Doggett had been an early backer of Biden but retreated in the wake of the president’s debate performance against Trump last month, which caused consternation about his age to reach a fever pitch.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Doggett said earlier this month.
Dozens of Democrats across both chambers of Congress later followed suit in publicly calling on Biden to throw in the towel and pass the baton.
Ultimately, Biden announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the 2024 race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
Biden jetted down to Texas to speak at the LBJ Presidential Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Lyndon B. Johnson announced he wouldn’t seek reelection in 1968, and ultimately Republican Richard Nixon won that year. His exit came roughly 295 days before election night.
Biden’s withdrawal came at an unprecedented 107 days out from Nov. 5 — and just over two weeks from when Democrats had been poised to crown him the nominee in a virtual roll call.
The House speaker has previously cast aspersions on Biden’s mental acuity and suggested that Democrats had been engaged in a ploy to cover up his lapses.
“I didn’t want to come out and talk about personal interactions with the president because I’ve been concerned about … this projection of weakness on the world stage in a very dangerous time,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union” last week.
“Now that the cat is out of the bag, you can hear from the Republican speaker to affirm what everyone else has known and seen. The Democrats have been involved in a big cover-up here,” he added.