Let me apologize for the crude language
People are chanting it at ball games. People are putting up banners that say it:
"Fuck Joe Biden. Fuck Joe Biden. Fuck Joe Biden."
We have all heard and read the word, but it is still a little shocking and offensive to see it used so casually in public.
The shock and offense are features. The words aren't meant literally, of course. The words are body-language as physical as the raised middle finger, a means to show open contempt. It proves a point that people can get away with insulting Biden.
Harsh political language is as old as the presidency. Democrats joyfully mocked Trump and still do. He is the "orange man" with a bad combover. People displayed a giant balloon caricature of infantile Trump and an ugly one of naked, fat, doughy Trump, with small genitals. It was as harsh and disrespectful as people could make it.
The "Fuck Joe Biden" chant is nothing new.
The mocking did not hurt Trump. If anything, it helped him. Trump is a pugilist and provocateur. That is his brand. Trump dished it out and Trump got some back. He belittles opponents. He called Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas, Joe Biden sleepy, Jeb Bush low energy, Ted Cruz a liar, and now he is calling Mitch McConnell a weak RINO. Trump does it openly, joyfully. That behavior sent an unsaid message that nothing could stop Trump from exercising his will, including the norms and expectations surrounding "presidential" behavior. Trump's insults communicate Trump First, which makes him credible when he says America First. He signals status and hierarchy. A tiny example: He did not apologize for rudely shoving ahead of Montenegro's head of state because, after all, Trump represents the USA and Montenegro is small. The Montenegro leader did not shove back. After all, Trump is number one.
Biden's brand is different. Biden intended to return to pre-Trump normalcy. Biden has old-school dignity, which is consistent with his effort to lower the temperature of rhetoric and to be "above the fray," i.e. "presidential." Biden wants Americans to work together. Let's all get vaccinated. Let's all wear masks. Let's all do a bi-partisan infrastructure package.
When people fail to cooperate, Biden loses. He needs other political players to get along, but it is to their advantage not to get along. Biden is the substitute teacher who cannot get control of an unruly class, someone proven to be too weak for the job.
That is the context for the "Fuck Joe Biden" chants now taking place at football games and NASCAR races. The meme is proliferating. I have begun seeing bumper strips reading "Fuck Biden." A house near my farm just put up this large sign next to a Trump 2024 sign.
This is bad for Biden. A person who is bullied but attempts to look "above it all" looks like he is backing away from a fight. It happened to Dukakis when mocked for the tank ride and for Kerry when he was "swift boated." Voters want a Commander in Chief, i.e. someone who hits back when hit.
But every action has a counter-reaction, and possibly there is a silver lining amid the gloom for Biden. He looks bad but possibly Trump and his supporters look worse. Whether they be Proud Boys, Capitol rioters, or people putting up signs like this in residential neighborhoods, Trump and his movement look out of control. Trump keeps saying extreme things that seem less and less plausible about the election, he bad-mouths Republicans who have friends and supporters in their states, and his supporters keep cheering him on whatever he says.
The choice voters will face in 2022 and 2024 is one between weak versus nasty. If Democrats can make the case that the nastiness is all part of a movement aimed at fellow Americans--like this middle finger--then Democrats may survive. They should not count on it, though. Trump's political success shows that Americans crave a strong leader and are not fussy about how he exercises that strength.