One of the biggest mistakes we make when judging or predicting the actions of politicians, judges and other people who possess power and influence is we forget that they’re human. In fact, in times of crisis, they respond exactly the way we’d respond: by turning away from critics and toward the people closest to them, the people who ostensibly care about them the most.
For ordinary people, this instinct is mostly healthy. Those in our inner circle not only know us the best, they should also have our best interests at heart. But for the most powerful people — including presidents — this instinct can be dangerous. The family members and close advisers of politicians and celebrities often depend on the politician or celebrity’s wealth and power for their own power and prestige.
Consider the example of President Biden. As age takes its toll, he’s isolating himself from everyone but those closest to him. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal published a disturbing report that described the way in which his “inner circle” had limited access to the president and concealed his true condition from the public.
“The White House has limited Biden’s daily itinerary and shielded him from impromptu exchanges,” The Journal reported. “Advisers have restricted news conferences and media appearances, twice declining Super Bowl halftime interviews — an easy way to reach millions of voters — and sought to make sure meetings with donors stuck to scripted pleasantries.”
This campaign of concealment (combined, it seems, with wishful thinking) meant that millions of Americans were gobsmacked by the president’s performance in his debate with Donald Trump on June 27. According to The Journal, the president’s performance “stunned members of his party, including some White House staffers who rarely spend one-on-one time with Biden.”
And what happened after the debate? Biden turned inward even more. He did exactly what most of us would do in the midst of a personal and professional crisis: He leaned on his family. He sought their advice immediately after the debate, his son Hunter has reportedly joined meetings with top aides and “Shakespearean” tensions now simmer between the family and Biden’s closest aides.
