This week’s White House report card finds President Joe Biden officially “running” for reelection after he released a video revealing his decision. He not only didn’t follow that up with the traditional campaign trip, but his aides also revealed that he doesn’t even put in a full eight-hour day, working 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
His critics this week focused on the stalled economy, his refusal to negotiate with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the pending debt ceiling crisis, and his forgetfulness. Less than two weeks after spending three days in Ireland, where he talked about staying, he couldn’t recall the trip when quizzed by a child.
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Other missteps included photographs of cue cards revealing that he knows what reporters are going to ask at rare press conferences and reports that Biden has been blocking investigations into first son Hunter Biden’s finances.
Conservative grader Jed Babbin slapped an “F” on the week and said Biden’s reelection could be the door opener to Vice President Kamala Harris moving up to president.
Biden scurries away from the Air Force Falcons after just 12 minutes.
Yesterday, Biden spent almost 45 minutes fielding questions from, and walking around with, his staffers’ children. pic.twitter.com/b0B9bDDVgm
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 28, 2023
On the other side, pollster John Zogby found surveys showing decent approval for Biden and hints from financial experts that the economy will turn around just in time for the president’s reelection. “This was a good week,” said Zogby, grading it a “B.”
Jed Babbin
Grade: F
It was another “whiskey, tango, foxtrot” week for President Biden and his team with his 2024 campaign announcement, action in Sudan, and a really absurd move on home mortgages.
Biden’s announcement that he would run for reelection next year was no surprise. It means that our 80-year-old prez would be 86 at the end of a second term, to which no one can expect him to serve. Biden’s mental and physical conditions could prevent that. And it means that voters will be voting for Kamala Harris to become president before 2028, a prospect that should scare anyone with half a brain.
Biden still refuses to negotiate spending cuts in return for an increase in the debt ceiling. Speaker McCarthy’s bill to couple spending cuts with a debt increase passed the House, so the ball is in Biden’s court. Biden is risking a default by refusing to talk. Any hint of a default would cripple American credit around the world and make it easier for the Chinese to substitute their Yuan for the dollar as the reserve currency of choice for many nations.
If you think inflation and a weakening dollar are bad now, just wait till Joe engineers a default.
Having succeeded in abandoning hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan — some of whom are still being held against their will by the Taliban — Biden has evacuated the diplomats from our embassy in Sudan and left other Americans on their own to flee the fighting between warlords.
And having nothing better to do, Biden’s regulators decided that they would penalize home buyers with good credit scores with higher interest rates to subsidize those with lower credit scores. This not only turns the housing market upside down but also could lead to another bank crash when low-score loans default. That’s just what we’ve come to expect from Biden & Co.
If there were a grade lower than an “F,” this is another week that Biden would have earned it.
John Zogby
Grade: B
There were lots of numbers this week, many pros and cons, so we can pick and choose.
For President Joe Biden, there were three approval polls that averaged a 47% job approval rating and 49% disapproval. One was 50% approve, another 49%, and the third, 41%. Take your pick.
The Gross Domestic Product for the quarter was set at 1.1%, meaning a slowing of the economy, but not quite recession mode. Nonetheless, it was pleasing to Wall Street because it signaled a slowing down of inflation and that the Federal Reserve’s actions to increase interest rates may be working. Economists warn of two quarters of mild recessions to follow, but who listens to them anyway? In addition, they project that the economy will be healed in time for the election next year.
But as I report every week, I am only dealing with this week, and this one was not too bad. The New York Post had a field day about the president forgetting some obvious answers from students, including which country he visited last. Yes, Biden shuffles a bit, he stammers some, and he forgets a few things. But nothing yet has revealed a major problem or anything suggesting such.
Remember at his State of the Union when he improvised a pledge from Republican members to support Social Security? The burden will be on Biden to not stumble on the campaign trail, but this was a good week.
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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 Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies
