President Trump scored some victories this week, but they were overshadowed by the crisis in unemployment caused by the lingering coronavirus fight.
Conservative analyst and co-grader Jed Babbin found positives in the Justice Department’s move to drop Russia collusion-related charges against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. He also gave Trump credit for vetoing a move to limit his war powers in Iran in grading a “B.”
But pollster John Zogby said that the virus and surging joblessness are the dominant issues, and he found a continued lack of leadership from the president in grading an “F.”
Jed Babbin
Grade B
Trump had another rocky week, with the positive outweighing the negatives pretty significantly.
Unemployment hit 14.7%, a level unseen since the Great Depression. Trump has turned his White House Task Force from concentrating on the pandemic to a focus on reopening the economy. Several states are implementing plans to reopen the economy in the coming weeks, but it’s anybody’s guess how effective they will be and how they will be able to balance reopening with the risk of another surge in infections and deaths.
Starting early next week, at my order, the USA will be purchasing, from our Farmers, Ranchers & Specialty Crop Growers, 3 Billion Dollars worth of Dairy, Meat & Produce for Food Lines & Kitchens. “FARMERS TO FAMILY FOOD BOX” Great news for all! @SecretarySonny @ZippyDuvall
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2020
The biggest news of the week was the Justice Department’s move to dismiss the prosecution of Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser. Flynn’s entrapment and prosecution were a huge injustice.
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, was unhorsed and unhinged by the forced disclosure of 53 transcripts of HPSCI interviews of witnesses in the “Russia collusion” non-scandal. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell forced the disclosures when he told Schiff that if Schiff didn’t disclose them, the DNI office would. There’s no evidence of any Trump-Russia collusion in them despite Schiff’s long-standing insistence that there was. Among those interviewed and who couldn’t point to any evidence was Obama-era national intelligence director James Clapper.
Trump seized a predictable victory by vetoing the congressional attempt to limit his war powers with regard to Iran. Tensions between Iran and the United States have increased recently because of continued Iranian harassment of Navy ships in the Persian Gulf. Congress will be unable to override Trump’s veto. (The limit on the president’s war powers was unconstitutional in any event.)
John Zogby
Grade F
The president and the public face an existential moment, a genuine dilemma: Do we allow the economy to reopen and allow people who are genuinely suffering from deprivation to earn incomes again, or do we listen to the scientists who are telling us that reopening at this point is just too dangerous and risky for the public’s health?
This should be an honest national conversation, an airing by all sides, with equal measures of science and empathy. But Trump has allowed this moment to become a wedge between both sides, depriving all of us of both the conversation and a reasonable solution.
He is not leading. He sows confusion. He remains embattled and defensive. I am trying to find some leadership, but his content and style are just not the stuff of good crisis leadership.
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter: @jedbabbin
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter: @TheJohnZogby
