Joe Biden will certainly need the same media scrutiny as Donald Trump ... when he behaves the same as him

The moment that Mr Biden starts telling thousands of demonstrable lies then the press will have no choice but to take the gloves off.

The moment he starts using Stalinist language against journalists; hiding his taxes; denigrating dead soldiers; questioning Barack Obama’s citizenship; talking about imprisoning his political opponents for nebulous crimes; actually imprisoning children at the US-Mexican frontier; peddling conspiracy theories; spending most of his time golfing, watching TV and transposing his id on to Twitter; amplifying white nationalism; excusing white nationalism; feigning ignorance about white nationalism; praising extra-judicial violence; then he will need the same scrutiny.

The moment he begins falling in love with autocrats; bridling against democratic allies; undermining Nato and the post-1945 global order; withdrawing from crucial international institutions and agreements; instigating trade wars; illegally redirecting funds appropriated by Congress; extorting foreign countries for fabricated dirt on rivals; committing impeachable offences; refusing to commit to civic norms; propagating disinformation about American elections; appointing kakistocrats and unqualified donors to key positions; pardoning aides who have been convicted of crimes committed in his service; asking the FBI director to drop investigations into those allies; breaching the Hatch Act and the constitution’s emoluments clause; forcing the government to patronise his own businesses; musing about quack Covid cures, nuking hurricanes and injecting disinfectant; and dissembling about the pandemic’s true severity, then the scrutiny needs to be the same.

Matthew Coyle, Holywood

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