After Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, I blasted the president for his useless overemphasis on empathy.
“Simply do an internet search of the words ‘Joe Biden’ and ‘Empathy,’ and you’ll see what I’m talking about,” I wrote.
“Forbes ran a story titled ‘How Empathy Defines Joe Biden,’ and DW News explained that, ‘for Joe Biden, empathy wins the presidency.’ The Atlantic gushed over his ability ‘to help bind up our wounds,’ alleging that ‘there may never have been a wider gap in empathy than between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.’ Even Biden himself tweeted the words ‘Empathy matters.’”
How touching. However, I’m sure those 13 U.S. service members killed in Kabul couldn’t have cared less.
“If the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan proved anything to us, it proved that sympathy is not always sufficient,” I continued. “No amount of empathy could have saved those lives in Afghanistan; nor could it have prevented the arming of the Taliban with our military equipment; nor could it answer a single question that the President simply didn’t feel like responding to.”
“The Afghanistan crisis ultimately confirmed Biden’s ineptitude, and when the books tell of this humiliating failure, I somehow can’t imagine that the fact he was less offensive than Trump will count for much. He certainly may have empathy, but history won’t remember Biden for his gratifying words or friendly smile. We’ll remember him for the cowardly way he looked evil in the face and did nothing about it.”
But I digress. My point is simply this: other leadership qualities (or lack thereof) notwithstanding, the fact that Joe Biden is purportedly empathetic does not count for much in my book.
What’s more, he isn’t even good at it. In fact, Biden is indifferent and out of touch in a way that only a career politician who’s spent decades in Washington could be.
For example, in response to the recent Maui fire that destroyed 3,000 homes and killed at least 114 people (more than 1,000 are still missing), a vacationing Biden replied with an unfeeling “no comment.”
Widely condemned on social media, and perhaps realizing the collateral damage his uncaring remark had caused, the president eventually made his way to the fire-ravaged island, where he donned a lei and again evidenced he knows little of empathy. In speaking to grieving Hawaiians, he broke the sacred first rule of comforting the brokenhearted: he made their tragedy all about himself.
“I don’t want to compare difficulties,” he said before proceeding to compare difficulties, “but Jill and I have a little sense of what it’s like to lose a home.” He then recounted a story from over 15 years ago when lightning struck his house in Delaware and he allegedly “almost lost my wife, my '67 Corvette, and my cat.” In reality, an AP report from the time reveals that the “small fire ... contained to the kitchen” “was under control in 20 minutes."
Biden says "Jill and I have a little sense of what it's like to lose a home" and then tells the story of when lightning struck his house in 2004 and says "I almost lost my '67 corvette and my cat."
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 22, 2023
According to a report from the time, the lighting strike caused "a small fire… pic.twitter.com/V8IBfoZuEW
Nothing screams “self-absorbed” or “out-of-touch” quite like flaunting tales of a small kitchen fire while an entire state mourns the destruction of over 3,000 homes and the deadliest wildfire in over a century. Biden understands because one time he thought he might lose his cat! As the people of Maui mourn their unprecedented loss, they can take solace in the fact that their pain has been understood thanks to his kitchen escapade.
This would not be the first time Biden has exhibited his terrible knack for so-called “empathy.” Remember back after he sentenced U.S. troops to die in Afghanistan and then tried to comfort their grieving families? How did he do it? Oh yeah, that’s right—he made their loss all about himself.
"When Joe Biden, our elected president, entered the room, when he approached me, his words to me were, 'My wife, Jill, and I know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag-draped coffin,'" said Cheryl Rex, the mother of Lance Corporal Dylan Merola, one of the heroes who perished in Kabul. "My heart started beating faster and I started shaking knowing that their son died from cancer and that they were able to be by his side. Also wondering, how someone can honestly ... be so heartless."
Someone needs to instruct Biden that his “I know how you feel” shtick isn’t working. And how could it, when he’s spent over 50 years in Washington? His adoring fans in the media might call him empathetic (in fact, CNN responded to his trip to Maui with glowing praise, lauding him for his “signature empathy”), but the plain and simple truth is that Biden doesn’t understand. The fact that he thinks his oh-so-agonizing tales are in any way comparable to the grief of mourning Americans is the worst part about it.
More than anything, he proves that our federal politicians are truly out of touch with the American people—regardless of whether they can relate to losing one’s home in a fire or not, corrupt men and women like Joe Biden have been in Washington for far too long, increasingly losing any sense of reality. The president’s pitiful attempts at empathy are simply indicative of a broader sentiment of contempt that plagues our nation’s capital.
It’s time to rein in the federal government and send career politicians packing. With an Article V convention, we can do just that. To join us in the fight against federal tyranny, sign the Convention of States petition below.
