Welcome to the commentary magazine Daily Podcast.

Today is Thursday, January 20th, 2022. I'm John Pajor, the editor of commentary with me is always executive editor, a greenwald high a

adjon, senior writer, Christine Rosen, high Christine, associate editor, no, Rothman, high Noah, hi, John, and joining us today, Washington commentary columnist, A.E.I.

scholar, an author of the forthcoming history of the conservative movement in America, the right Matthew continuity, hi, Matt, hi, John.

Now we know why they kept him in the basement. We know why Joe Biden was kept in the basement during 2020. He just gave the most astounding press conference in press conference history.

If you didn't watch it, it was an hour and 50 minutes of jaw dropping wonder as Biden made more news than anybody has ever made in any press conference in history.

And he didn't want to and he did anyway, it was astounding, horrifying, terrifying, 25th amendment, suggesting incoherence, bladder, a surrender of an entire country, a guy talking about the

dictator of Russia as though he were kind of like a commentator on ESPN talking about what his, what Putin strategic options would be and what he, what he would guess Putin is probably going to do or not do.

Matt, let me, let me, let me go to you first.

Do you have an individual takeaway or are you, are you reeling from the fact that he is going to be president for another two years and for another three years.

I feel like the old DC area sports broadcaster George Michael who always used to say, let's go to the videotape because there are so many individual moments of absurdity and I mean, beyond a Kinsley gaff, you know, a Kinsley gaff is famously when a politician tells the truth.

But these are just kind of amazing statements coming from the president's mouth that it's hard to find just one. I will start with this toward the end of the, of the almost two hour feature links press conference.

Biden was asked, you know, is he going to change his behavior in the in his second year as president and he said, well, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to get out, go to the country more definitely going to go to the country more.

And also I'm going to have more conversations with outside academics and when I heard that story and the story is like he did at the beginning exactly.

I immediately thought of the infamous meeting with the historians at the outset of his presidency that had been organized by his advisor, John Meacham, the presidential biographer and kind of self appointed national conscience.

Where Biden first became convinced that he could be like FDR and LBJ in his grand significance of transformation, which led him down to this just catastrophic for him politically road.

And then in the most controversial speech of his presidency, which was last week's speech in Atlanta, where he likened opponents of the election takeover bills to George Wallace and Jefferson Davis and the villains of American history.

And also written by or co-written by meacham, so he, but at the end of the two hours where he's saying, here's how I'm going to change by strategy, he's actually going more meacham MOAR Meacham, which is precisely the opposite of what he needs to do to recover politically ahead of midterms.

And I mean, John Meacham, you know, so serious as Thomas Jefferson said, one day, solemn, there was a time when Henry Clay and John Kelle, who just happened to be walking down to the reflecting pool.

So why?

And I said, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, it was fantastic. That was an interesting moment. Let's go to the policy. Sure.

And it has had a better year than any president, first year than any president, who's done more than than he has, who's done more well, it's true that he has spent more than any president in their first year because nobody has spent more.

...