Veteran African leaders’ phone call on Biden’s race to abandon ‘leaked’

Last month, Mr Joe Biden, 81, had a disastrous debate performance against the Republican presidential nominee, former presidential candidate Donald Trump, which, combined with visible signs of physical fragility and glimpses of cognitive difficulties, triggered an avalanche of demands that he quit the race, despite winning the primary.

Mr Biden’s departure sent shockwaves through the United States and around the world.

In Africa, two veteran leaders immediately acknowledged that the US president’s action had sent subversive signals and could encourage some “enemies of development” to demand that they follow President Biden’s lead.

The two men, one in Greater East Africa (we’ll call him GEA to protect his identity) and the other in West Africa-Gulf of Guinea (we’ll call him WAGG), immediately picked up the phone to discuss the drama unfolding in America.

We obtained what one source claims is a leaked transcript of the conversation, which is produced here in (ironically) edited form:

President GEA: What does that mean? Biden is running away from the presidential race, condemning himself to be a one-term president by choice, just because he is 81, and he had a hard time climbing the steps of Airforce One because he had COVID? My goodness, 81, he is still young. Look at dear comrade Paul Biya, he is still vibrant at 91, and I was really pleased to hear him announce recently that he will run in 2026 at 93. When they say “black people don’t crack,” brother Biya is the best example of that. The great African resilience. The Americans don’t have it, they have lost their way.

President WAGG: You took the words right out of my mouth. So what if Biden slipped down the stairs and was weakened by COVID? That is discrimination against the disabled and stigmatizing the sick. Remember Comrade Abdelaziz Bouteflika, he led Algeria brilliantly for his last five years, sick in a wheelchair. And dear brother Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe fell down several times, slept three-quarters of the time, but he still had the revolutionary fire in his belly. Comrade Bob had Grace (Mugabe) who pampered him and kept his spirits up. I think Jill Biden is to blame for Joe. If she had made sure he drank strong soup and took his vitamins, none of this would have happened.

GEA: Exactly, but I also think this mzungu food is a problem. If Biden ate cassava, yams, our millet, fresh fruits, Congolese cassava leaves, our peas and smoked fish, he would be in good shape. In fact, when I look at Trump, I think he needs to come to you in West Africa and you feed him fufu, egusi soup and jollof rice, otherwise he will not last.

WAGG: I think Biden has also opened himself up to attack. First of all, he made a bad choice for vice president. I mean, she’s 59, 22 years younger than him. That’s led to unfavorable comparisons and given people the wrong idea about a clearly younger alternative. Second, she’s also beautiful. I mean, she’s passable. If you’re going to choose a woman as vice president, never choose an attractive woman, especially one with thinning hair. That’s asking to be overshadowed. These Americans brag that their democracy is over 200 years old; it seems like they haven’t learned anything in two centuries.

GEA: The other thing that baffled me was seeing members of Biden’s Democratic Party asking him to withdraw from the race. How? First, what party is this? Even if he found it there, he should have purged it and made sure that all the members (representatives and senators) were his supporters. Second, doesn’t he have the police? If members of my party asked me to resign, they wouldn’t sleep in their beds that night. Or if they did, they would wake up in the morning as former members. I would not tolerate that level of indiscipline.

WAGG: Absolutely, I would tell them to go start their own party. What’s the point of taking power if you can’t exercise it? But, brother, I’m afraid it’s going to give our people ideas again. We could crack down and stop this nonsense, but this idea that you’re too old to be president at 81 could come back and destabilize us. At least Trump is 78. I wasn’t deciding between him and Biden. Now I desperately need Trump to win.

Mr. Onyango-Obbo is a journalist, writer and curator of the “Wall of Great Africans”. X: @cobbo3