White House–curated stories of performative outrage and feigned helplessness provided cover for an administration arming death on an industrial scale.
by Adam Johnson and Othman Ali
Part 2 - Helpless Biden
Our first genre is Helpless Biden, which we define as any reporting, opinion, or analysis that broadly advances the premise that calls for Biden to end Israel’s “war in Gaza” are futile because even if he wanted to, Biden can’t influence Israel enough for it to matter.
Our study analyzed 10 prominent examples of the Helpless Biden genre:
Our study analyzed 10 prominent examples of the Helpless Biden genre:
The Washington Post, 11/5/23, “White House frustrated by Israel’s onslaught but sees few options”
The New York Times, 11/6/23, “Biden Confronts the Limits of U.S. Leverage in Two Conflicts”
Politico, 11/07/23, “Why the U.S. isn’t stopping this war, and other Middle East realities”
The Washington Post, 3/18/24, “How Biden became embroiled in a Gaza conflict with no end in sight”,
The Washington Post, 4/6/24, “Six months into Gaza war, Biden confronts the limits of U.S. leverage”
The New York Times, 9/29/24, “Why the World’s Biggest Powers Can’t Stop a Middle East War”
The Washington Post, 9/30/24, “As Israel escalates in Lebanon, U.S. influence is limited”
Politico, 10/2/24, “Biden confronts the limits of his influence over Israel”
The Washington Post, 10/3/24, “How Joe Biden lost his grip on Israel’s war for ‘total victory’ in Gaza”
The New York Times, 10/7/24, “A Year Later, Biden Faces the Limits of U.S. Influence in the Mideast”
The New York Times, 11/6/23, “Biden Confronts the Limits of U.S. Leverage in Two Conflicts”
Politico, 11/07/23, “Why the U.S. isn’t stopping this war, and other Middle East realities”
The Washington Post, 3/18/24, “How Biden became embroiled in a Gaza conflict with no end in sight”,
The Washington Post, 4/6/24, “Six months into Gaza war, Biden confronts the limits of U.S. leverage”
The New York Times, 9/29/24, “Why the World’s Biggest Powers Can’t Stop a Middle East War”
The Washington Post, 9/30/24, “As Israel escalates in Lebanon, U.S. influence is limited”
Politico, 10/2/24, “Biden confronts the limits of his influence over Israel”
The Washington Post, 10/3/24, “How Joe Biden lost his grip on Israel’s war for ‘total victory’ in Gaza”
The New York Times, 10/7/24, “A Year Later, Biden Faces the Limits of U.S. Influence in the Mideast”
Our source analysis shows that 93 percent of the sources of these articles are Israeli officials, Biden aides (typically anonymous), or Biden allies in the think-tank world. The three most common sources being cited were “[White House/U.S.] officials” (47), “Israeli officials” (10), or “aides” (8).
In none of these pieces was the idea that Biden is powerless ever meaningfully questioned. To the extent that it is broached at all, it is typically in a “to be sure” paragraph quoting “critics” or “Arab and Muslim Americans,” then hand-waved away or dismissed via what is, in effect, circular reasoning: as in, Biden can’t end Israel’s military campaign, because he doesn’t want to.
In none of these pieces was the idea that Biden is powerless ever meaningfully questioned. To the extent that it is broached at all, it is typically in a “to be sure” paragraph quoting “critics” or “Arab and Muslim Americans,” then hand-waved away or dismissed via what is, in effect, circular reasoning: as in, Biden can’t end Israel’s military campaign, because he doesn’t want to.
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