By Ray Cardello for February 25, 2025, Season 30 / Post 46

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were a gaffe-machine team with a side of word salad. We had no idea what Joe Biden was saying most of the time, and neither did he. Behind the scenes, there was always a team listening to Joe speak, and often, they put out corrections or explanations to the press before Joe was done talking. It was quite embarrassing to think of Joe Biden as our president and supposed leader of the free world. As bad as Joe was behind the microphone, Kamala Harris had him beat. I am not sure if the term “word salad” was coined for Harris, but in four years, she epitomized what the term meant. We have all seen the videos that were supposed to be meaningful orations by the Vice President, only to become comical fodder for nightly news, opinion shows, and internet memes. Even the few clips of the former vice president, such as the one from backstage at a Broadway play this weekend, are evidence of a collection of words strung together in a meaningless communication. The funniest element of the videos for me is the minions in the background nodding their heads in enthusiastic agreement. These people are trained seals.

Contrast the oratory work of Kamala Harris with the relatively limited work of Vice President J.D. Vance, and you have a black-and-white comparison. We saw the difference during the campaign, which was refreshing but sad. It should be expected that our leaders be able to communicate effectively. The aged Joe Biden and Kamala Harris destroyed that expectation, leaving us with four years of spoken word needing translation and explanation.

Hearing the impromptu spoken word from leaders is essential in many situations, obviously, with prepared speeches, Q&A sessions, and interviews with the media. We lacked all of these with both Biden and Harris but are getting a daily dose of all three from the current President and Vice President, which pays dividends in many ways. When you hear directly from those in charge, you typically get a more transparent operation, especially if they are asked similar questions and respond consistently. We have witnessed Trump and Vance push back and eat journalists alive by having a factual and coherent response to leading questions meant to solicit an answer to fit a narrative.

Perhaps most importantly, being able to communicate effectively on the world stage is a powerful tool. People were talking about the JD Vance address in Germany a week after the microphone was killed. He had a meaningful message that reinforced the Trump doctrine and also put the audience on notice of the Administration’s expectations. The world leaders did not fear or respect Joe Biden or Kamala Harris because they, like us, had no idea what the two were trying to say. We do not need the world to fear us, but we do need them to respect us. Because Biden/Harris fell short on communication, foreign leaders took advantage of our presumed weakness. These same leaders have no confusion with Trump or Vance. Whether it is Cartels backing off on the border, foreign countries yielding to the pressure of tariffs, or the directive to cease aggressive behavior, we have seen the fruits of having two people in charge who are in charge of the spoken word.