Jesus. I never thought of it in these particular terms, this explicitly, but yeah, this is depressingly accurate. It's just how a self-doubting, fearful person who wants to *appear* as savvy, powerful, and courageous would behave.
For NYT/WaPo/NBC political reporters, it appears to them as “wow I wrote this story about Biden, and look at all the attention it’s getting, and the White House is responding!”
Which doesn’t happen for Trump stories.
Which is another way of saying that it’s about their power to act.
