For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

Those who want Biden to stay in the race point out that in 2016, after the Access Hollywood tape came out, there were calls for Trump to drop out. Trump stayed in and won. There are some significant differences. The tape occurred years ago. Also, Trump’s sleaziness was well known. Moreover, it did not affect his ability to be president. In contrast, Biden’s situation is current, and it appears to affect his ability to perform his duties as president and is only going to get worse over time. Hopefully, Biden will not let his ego keep him on the path to disaster. The logical new team is Kamala Harris as president and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as vice president. It would be untenable to pass over Harris and pick another choice for president. It would alienate minorities and could also alienate women if a male is chosen. Also, it would be a problem dealing with the funds that were raised for a Biden-Harris presidential run. Although Harris’s campaign four years ago for president did not go too well, at least she has run for president, unlike the other choices being floated. Shapiro would be an excellent choice for vice president since he is a popular governor from a swing state with a sizable number of electoral votes. It would be the east-west connection. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part because Shapiro would be the first Jewish vice president.

In last week’s column during the Hunter Biden trial, I wrote that “in contrast to Trump’s trial, where Trump and his acolytes including the House Speaker repeatedly attacked the prosecutor, the Judge, the judge’s daughter, the jury, and the process. In Hunter’s case, the president and important Democratic party elected officials have not attacked the prosecutor, the judge, the judge’s family, the jury or the process.” That has continued, even though Hunter was convicted. Furthermore, the president said not only would he not pardon his son, but he would not commute his sentence.

As an American, I was embarrassed by the performances of both candidates for president during the televised debate last week. Biden looked and sounded like a feeble old man. Trump repeatedly lied - about 30 times, according to fact checkers. Trump also said some of his greatest hits about January 6 and the 2020 election. He also came across as being overbearing and avoided answering the questions. We were also reminded of Trump being a convicted felon.

The Republicans were clamoring for Hunter Biden to be tried for a felony relating to his drug use. They thought that it would embarrass the president. It appears that it has not worked out that way. The trial relates to his falsely answering a question about drug use while filling out an application for purchasing a weapon and then possessing the weapon. At trial, what has been shown is a person who has struggled with drug addiction and a family that has tried to help him and otherwise cope with a difficult situation. This is a problem all too common in our country. It covers all social, economic, and political classes. Hunter’s family has been at the trial. Unlike at Trump’s trial where Melania was a no-show, Hunter’s wife has been there every day to support her husband.

In my QJL column “Chuck the Speech” (March 28, 2024), I wrote, “Even if Schumer had been right on the merits, he was wrong on the timing. There is a time and place to say something. This was the wrong time and place. Hamas sees what we are seeing. There has been a continuous erosion of support for Israel worldwide and especially in the United States. Hamas has no incentive to make any deal since the longer it goes on the worse it gets for Israel. Schumer’s speech plays into this narrative. This is the same person who months ago made a strong pro-Israel speech and has now changed his tune.”

The Trump game plan is, before the date of the decision, to repeatedly attack the process as rigged, and then when you lose, say I told you so. Trump did that leading up to the 2020 election, which he lost, and the New York County criminal trial, where he was convicted of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He also did it before he lost both Jean Carroll defamation trials and the Attorney General’s civil proceeding against the Trump organization.