The comedian George Lopez once memorably expressed his confusion over the accusations leveled at Mexicans who came to the United States — a confusion sparked by two incompatible, irreconcilable characterizations.
Growing up, Lopez said, he frequently heard white Americans say that Mexicans were the “laziest” people on earth, refusing to work — and yet the same people, Lopez revealed, said another problem was that the Mexicans were taking all the jobs! Well which is it, Lopez wondered?
According to Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), today’s Republicans are having a similar logic problem as they try different messages to impugn President Joe Biden. To illustrate his point, Moskowitz shared a SpongeBob-meme featuring a diptych with two very different attack lines written on opposing book covers, an image that lays bare the dilemma presented by the two most common MAGA attack lines on Biden.
MAGA Republicans trying to balance their talking points today: pic.twitter.com/AqDVmydhdL
— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) February 9, 2024
On the one side, Biden is alleged to be “old, sleepy, and senile” — an accusation recently amped by Trump-appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur‘s report, which failed to charge Biden with any crimes related to his handling of classified documents, but which made news by portraying the President as “elderly” and forgetful.
On the other hand is the other more common MAGA charge against Biden — the line of attack pursued by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer for more than a year of investigations into the so-called “Biden crime family.” That narrative portrays Biden as “an international criminal mastermind who stole an election.”
As George Lopez would say: well, which is it?
