Among the embarrassing memories from Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign is the music video in which various B-list celebrities sang Rachel Platten's “Fight Song” to show their support for Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.
This video wasn't the reason Clinton lost the election to Donald Trump, but it was symptomatic of the absurd methods and assumptions that led to her defeat. The Clinton campaign's namesake may not have made an appearance in the battleground state of Wisconsin, but he took the time to court Hollywood and remind voters that it had her back.
If Trump wins again in 2024, this time in a rematch against President Joe Biden, the bizarre news conference his campaign held with Robert De Niro outside Trump's criminal trial in New York City on Tuesday will likely be remembered just as much as a symbolic embarrassment.
The show begins with a disengaged campaign staffer introducing De Niro as “a native New Yorker who can spot bullshit from a mile away and isn't afraid to call it out.”
De Niro then slowly made his way to the stage and delivered arguably the worst performance of his life, a verbose, rambling diatribe in a style reminiscent of Biden's own recent speaking struggles.
The acclaimed actor began by fixating on a small group of pro-Trump protesters unseen by the audience, whom he described as “kind of crazy,” which was a harbinger of things to come.
From there, De Niro went into a rambling attack on Trump's character that resembled a John Oliver monologue circa 2018, except somehow even less funny. He compared Trump to the 9/11 terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans. He complained about Trump being in New York City for a trial he was legally required to attend. He bizarrely claimed that Trump specifically wanted to destroy the Big Apple. He predicted that if Trump rose again, the United States would never hold a presidential election again. And, of course, he claimed that he “needed” to get himself involved in the Biden-Harris campaign.
It was a widely panned disaster that reflected a politically dangerous lack of self-awareness, little more than “Fight Song” playing in the background while De Niro rambled on.
Joe Biden is trailing in the polls not because Americans don't fully understand that Donald Trump is an unsound person, or that celebrities are (surprise!) backing the Democratic presidential nominee once again; he's trailing because he's an unrealistic politician representing an unrealistic coalition.
De Niro's yelled, “I”-heavy rant was a throwback to the Clinton campaign and the hashtag resistance that grew out of its failure. While Trump's behavior is certainly unbecoming of the Oval Office, it speaks to the very real concerns of Americans who fear the country's progressive elites are heading down a disastrous path.
As the Biden administration has shown, those fears are well-founded. America's enemies, like Russia, China, and Iran, are emboldened by his weakness on the world stage. The skyrocketing cost of living was first ignored by his administration and then allegedly addressed by a wasteful spending bill almost derisively named the “Keep Inflation Down” Act. And the southern border was open for the first three years of the Biden administration until an election year gave the appearance of doing something about it, with predictably horrifying results.
Incredibly, the Democratic Party has never responded to what it sees as an existential crisis with any soul-searching or moderation, instead focusing on indiscriminate embrace of absurdity, the Squad, and the most ridiculous and narcissistic aspects of celebrity culture, hoping that Trump's own missteps will lead to his downfall.
This is not a recipe for victory, but it does satisfy the perverse egos of a privileged few (and small-minded) people who want to feel good about themselves and receive praise from their peers.
In 2016, the Clinton campaign didn't realize how much this trend was hurting them until it was too late. In 2020, Americans grew tired of the 24/7 Trump rollercoaster and convinced Biden would govern from the center. It's simply inexplicable that in 2024, Biden's response to falling behind Trump in almost every meaningful poll this year was to ask an 80-year-old actor to shake his fist at the clouds.
On reflection, this may not have been Biden's “fight song,” but his final song.
