The difference couldn’t be more stark.

There was 76-year-old Donald Trump yesterday, relaxed and in command, holding court before a mostly Republican crowd in New Hampshire at a CNN town hall. For a full 60 minutes, Trump answered all the questions from moderator Kaitlan Collins and resoundingly reminded everyone who’d forgotten his 2016 tour de force through the Republican field why he’s so formidable in this format.

And there, just days earlier, was 80-year-old Joe Biden, stumbling through another disastrous appearance with a microphone in his hand, mangling the name of an Asian-American film producer named Joan Shigekawa.

Biden completely malfunctions during remarks at his screening of “American Born Chinese” pic.twitter.com/VbC9yicUH1

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 9, 2023

“I honored a group of trailbrazing artists with National Medals of Arts and Humanities. The group included groundbreaking Asian-Americans like Vera Wang and, and, and, Joan Shingan … Shing … scymmfflmfmuhpronunssruh … Shanga … kawawa. I think I pronounced that correctly,” he said, before lamely joking, “She can call me Joe Bidden.”

It’s sad, really. And we have James Clyburn and Herr Doktor Jill Biden to thank for it.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming. As Fox News reports, “The announcement Trump would appear on CNN, a network with whom he famously feuded throughout his presidency, had already raised eyebrows on the left, and some network staffers were reportedly angry with how the event transpired Wednesday night.”

We’ll say. And for those of us who think Trump has earned a shot at four more years to undo the cascading Biden calamity and, ahem, “finish the job,” we thank CNN for its campaign contribution.

Challenged on the debt ceiling negotiations, which Trump had said shouldn’t be a negotiating wedge when he was president, Collins asked, “Why is it different now that you’re out of office?” “Cause now I’m not president,” Trump replied, to laughter and applause.

An audience member highlighted Bidenflation and asked what Trump would do about it. “Drill, baby, drill,” he answered succinctly.

Those are just a couple of examples of Trump deftly answering questions and drawing a huge contrast between himself and Biden.

As commentator Clay Travis put it: “Donald Trump just did an hour in the lion’s den on CNN. Taking everything they can dish out at him. I love it. Can you imagine Joe Biden doing an hour on Fox News? Would never happen. Biden legit couldn’t do it. He isn’t mentally or physically capable of doing it.”

And that’s it, really. Joe Biden couldn’t possibly do what Donald Trump just did. And we have to ask: Is that really too much to ask of an American president — that he be able to stand before a journalist, or a group of them, and answer tough questions for the American people?

Some observers on the Right, including our own Mark Alexander, think that CNN, like the rest of the Democrat influencers, wants Trump to win the Republican nomination. Thus, they think that what CNN did by inviting Trump on air is all part of the plan, all part of the Democrats’ grand strategy to throw the nomination to Trump so that some as-yet unnamed Democrat nominee — perhaps Gavin Newsom — can clean his clock in the general election.

This author humbly begs to differ. CNN and its corporate-media mercenaries know a ratings bonanza when they see it, and they simply leaped at the opportunity.

Think about it: Today, everyone is talking about what Trump said and did on CNN. Everyone. On a day when we should be talking about Biden’s ongoing and intentional border catastrophe, and about the Biden Crime Family’s ever-unspooling corruption, folks are instead talking about the former and perhaps future president.

Does Trump-hating former Republican strategist and media consultant Rick Wilson, he of the pedophile-enabling Lincoln Project, think things are going according to the Left’s oh-so-clever “Let Trump Win” script? You be the judge. But, please, if you have young children, remove them from the room and turn the volume down, as Wilson’s spittle-flecked meltdown is riddled with vulgarities.

BREAKING: Lincoln Project founder MELTS DOWN over CNN Trump townhall, admits Trump’s win inevitable pic.twitter.com/1Ulri5iJRz

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) May 11, 2023

Are we to believe that Wilson, as soon as he stopped recording, gleefully rubbed his hands and let loose with a sinister Mwah-hah-hah-hah-hahhh?

Doubtful.

Or how about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Surely she’d be giddy about Trump’s strong performance and grateful to CNN for having aided in the conspiracy by strengthening his standing atop an as-yet fully formed Republican field. Right? Right?

Umm, wrong. “They have lost total control of this ‘town hall,’” she shrieked, “to again be manipulated into platforming election disinformation, defenses of Jan 6th, and a public attack on a sexual abuse victim.”

And then this, the most delicious observation of all from The Barkeep Formerly Known as Sandy Cortez: “The audience is cheering him on and laughing at the host.”

In any case, those who think Trump will be an easy out come November 2024 might want to be careful what they wish for. As a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by seven points.

Even in the event that Biden isn’t ultimately the Democrat nominee, Trump has shown himself to be incredibly resilient, and his strong economic record and tough stance on border security will hold up well against any Democrat.

Any Democrat.