Today, President Joe Biden announced that he won’t be standing for re-election. This didn’t come as a big surprise, as it had become evident, glaringly evident since his debate performance against Trump, that he could no longer communicate and hence campaign effectively. What surprised me, and something I still can’t explain, is that he made the announcement by posting a letter on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Why X? The platform is not a trusted or respected news source. Nor is it even a platform with that great a reach. Its prominence, even back when it was Twitter, was always overstated mainly because it was used by a lot of reporters.
It is also owned by Elon Musk, someone who has pledged massive funding to elect Biden’s rival.
Biden could have got air time or coverage on any network or platform or service and the statement would have been picked up and immediately re-posted and broadcast everywhere else. So why was it released on X? I’ve never had a Twitter or X account, and only used to go on it occasionally to scroll through some posts back when it was Twitter because they let you do that without registering. You can’t do that anymore, which is one of the reasons X has been losing traffic as well as revenue since Musk’s takeover.
I think Biden dropping out was the right call. He’s much too old. Trump is also much too old, but he’s in a category all his own. Leaving that aside though, I don’t see why Biden would make such an important announcement on a platform like X. Surely there was a better way to break the news.
Alex Good 
I think you already said why – “mainly because it was used by a lot of reporters.” he hasn’t favoured one news outlet with a scoop, they all got it.That’s my take on it anyway. I don’t go on TwitX, but found it on the BBC website which attributed the news to that platform at the same time Phil was seeing it on Facebook – also reposted from TwitX.
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I guess, but . . .
It’s an important statement and it seems to me he should have been addressing the broader public directly, not releasing a statement to reporters on a platform like X. I think he’s supposed to be making an address this week that will likely run on all the networks. He could have sent the letter simultaneously to the NYT and the Washington Post and CNN and Fox and everyone. But it sounds like he just posted it on X and they all had to pick it up from there. That’s weird.
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Yeah I guess too .. on all the tv shows and movies I’ve seen Presidents always make announcements from the Oval Office with their own crew ( I think) and that gets networked. Maybe real life isn’t that grand.
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Ha. Yes, the only real life I think is grand is the stuff without too many people in it.
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Prz Biden hasn’t written his own speeches or had an original thought of his own for close to 2 years now. It wasn’t his decision to go on X, that I’m convinced of.
Do you think the “why” is important?
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The impression I get is that Biden isn’t that bad in terms of his mental acuity. He’s just slowed down. But he’s always been terrible at communicating and he’s really slipped a lot in that regard. It was a smart move for him to step aside. I honestly don’t think he’s going to live another five years. 81 is old. I don’t know why people kid themselves. But like I say, Trump is too old for the job too. He has more energy, but mentally he’s all over the map.
I don’t think the “Why” is really important, but it puzzles me. If I were making such a decision I’d just do it as a blanket press release to everyone. Why post it on X? Which, at least in my opinion, is a pretty trashy platform.
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I barely use twitter since Musk started pulling it apart. It’s has its uses. If I was giving a statement about my failing abilities, I’d probably not want to have the footage dissected, so X is ideal for controlling the text. There’s nothing going on here that wasn’t planned in 2016, they waited until Trump was locked in as the Republican nominee and switched candidates on him. It’s all performative politics, but the plan has been working so far for the Dems in every election since 16, so they won’t be changing horses now…the election is as good as over, but milking the republicans, Musk and all for every dime is a full time job…
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Why does releasing on X allow them to control the text more than anywhere else? Wish I was as confident about the election being good as over. The whole thing is a really bad show, as one commentator I think on Slate has already put it.
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The Dems were arrogant and stupid enough to field a poor candidate in 2016. Republicans won by fielding a celebrity without politics or morals, but with a profile that attracted non-voters and scraped him into power. They couldn’t control him and the anti-Trump vote has paved the way from 2018 to 2024. The Republicans could and should have dumped him after he went violently rogue in 2020, but they’ll keep this losing streak until they shake free of his influence. Ironically the Dems end up with a female President, this time as a shoo-in. Maybe it’s not the plot-line you wanted, but it’s the plot line you’re getting. The old man competition is over, and as a prosecutor, Harris has the ideal skill-set for the next four years, from Supreme Court overhaul to finally dragging the guilty into jail. And the public will have voted for it, front and centre. Storyline has been in place since 2016, and Trump getting hit by broken glass when one of his own shoots at him won’t cause any deviation from the script…once the Republican nomination was locked for Trump, it was game over, Biden’s job was done, there’s a new show runner from here on…
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Better than re-runs of the Apprentice anyway.
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