When President Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, WorldNetDaily’s first reaction was, shockingly, a largely straightforward “news” article by Joe Kovacs. He somehow waited until the end of his article to quote Elon Musk ranting that “The Democratic elite, corporate media, and billionaire donors successfully pressured the candidate chosen by Democratic primary voters to drop out because he’s down in the polls and losing. Democrats destroy democracy in pursuit of power.”
But don’t worry — Kovacs returned to his employer’s conspiratorial form in an article a few hours later:
Is Michelle Obama about to make an entrance into the 2024 presidential race?
A statement by former President Barack Obama reacting to Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race Sunday is raising eyebrows, as Barack is not endorsing Biden’s new pick for commander in chief, Kamala Harris.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Barack Obama said. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
[…]“Holy Sh**. The Obamas DO NOT endorse Kamala Harris,” said Bill Clinton sexual assault accuser Juanita Broaddrick, author of “You’d Better Put Some Ice On That.”
“Obama doesn’t endorse Kamala what the hell is going on?” wondered Karli Bonné.
Other online comments include:
“This is getting good!”
“They’re gonna go Clinton.”
“We are watching the fight of all fights.”
“Shouldn’t there be a little primary going on since 14 million Americans voted for him in the primary I guess they’re gonna have to revote. They can’t just appoint someone the people didn’t speak.”
“Makes me wonder who does Mr. O has in mind to continue his 4th terms!”
“Big Mike is waiting in the wings!”
Note how Kovacs slipped in the “Big Mike” slur, a reference to the right-wing conspiracy theory that Michelle Obama is secretly transgender. He also quoted previous ranting from WND columnist Wayne Allyn Root that Michelle is angling to be president, though he did grudgingly admit that “Michelle Obama has previously denied any interest in running for president.” Also note that Kovacs refused to consider the possibility that the Obamas didn’t make an immediate endorsement in order to let the process play out without being accused of favoring a candidate so early in the process.
Bob Unruh went the fearmongering route in a July 22 article:
A statement has been issued that Joe Biden is out of the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, which he already had won.
But he’s still in control of the White House, the nation’s military and its nuclear football containing launch codes for its weaponry.
And that’s a “frightening message” the Democrat party [sic] is sending the world, according to a long list of prominent commentary voices.
Unruh failed to identify the fact that his “prominent commentary voices” are all right-wing activists.
Unruh pushed another conspiracy theory later in the day:
No sooner had a social media statement appeared online in which Joe Biden said he was bowing out of the 2024 race for the Democrat party nomination for president for the “good” of his party and country than questions were raised.
Why was it posted on social media without a White House news conference, or press release?
Why was there no official presidential seal on the document?
And significantly: why did the signature NOT match multitudes of Biden’s previous signatures?
Online was the question, ‘Who signed Biden’s letter?” with images from five recent presidential orders, and the differing signature from his weekend post.
Unruh offered no reason why the partisan rantings of random “online” people should be taken seriously. He followed up by spreading fake news — as WND loves to do — in a July 23 article:
Joe Biden reportedly was diagnosed with COVID during a Nevada campaign trip last week – just before he made a social media post online over the weekend dropping out of the 2024 race for the Democrat party nomination for president.
But multiple reports now are revealing that Biden’s health issue probably was much worse than COVID. In fact, it may have been a transient ischemic attack, often called a “ministroke,” and that can be very serious for an 81-year-old like Biden who previously has had aneurysms, including one in 1988 that nearly was fatal.
Such circumstances would explain why he’s not been seen in nearly a week, since Air Force One returned him to Delaware from Las Vegas on a flight that was so fast the plane “shook,” according to witnesses.
It was KSNV Television in Nevada that originally reported at Biden’s onset of “COVID,” a Las Vegas hospital was put on standby for “medical issue” for Biden.
“Law enforcement and medical teams gathered outside the University Medical Center trauma room entrance on Wellness Way in case the president of the United States arrived after he canceled an appearance at the Unidos US Convention in Las Vegas due to testing positive for COVID-19,” the report said.
Instead, however, Biden’s entourage was diverted from the hospital to the airport and Air Force One.
Reporter Jordan Schachtel then explained that Biden suffered an “undisclosed medical emergency,” citing police sources.
Turns out Schachel was lying. Actual fact–checkers found that the hospital was put on standby, there was never any medical emergency. Unruh also uncritically repeated Schachtel’s repetition of a claim from a reporter with the right-wing Daily Mail that Air Force One flew back to Delaware “so fast the plane shook” — a claim deemed unreliable by responders to the reporter’s post.