This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden matching his lowest mark in approval polls and struggling for an answer to inflation and the war in Ukraine after a direct challenge by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “be the leader of the world.”
Grader and conservative analyst Jed Babbin didn’t think much of Biden’s efforts, saying the president and Vice President Kamala Harris stumbled through the week. In grading a D-minus, he also mocked the administration’s use of teenage TikTok “influencers” to confuse the public on the reason gas prices are high.
Pollster John Zogby, grading a C, didn’t have much good to say either. “All in all, a Benjamin Harrison kind of week. Not so good. Just a week,” he said.
Jed Babbin
Grade D-
As the saying goes, if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your B.S. Biden and Harris did their best to baffle this week.
Harris, for example, tweeted, “The United States stands firmly with the people of Ukraine in defense of the NATO alliance.” She clearly doesn’t understand that Ukraine isn’t a NATO member.
Biden, meanwhile, said a number of unfathomable things, including a reference to sexual blackmail. He said, “I bet everybody knows somebody … that in an intimate relationship, what happened was the guy takes a revealing picture of his naked friend, or whatever, in a compromising position and then … blackmails.” One can only wonder what, if anything, is running through his mind when he makes statements such as that. Biden’s lack of mental acuity isn’t debatable any longer.
Meanwhile, the price of gasoline hit another new record of $4.69 per gallon nationwide. Instead of opening the pipelines he has barred or relieving the industry of the regulatory burdens that prevent more drilling, Biden & Co. rolled out TikTok “influencers” (teenage girls) to parrot White House talking points that blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for our energy woes. There may be a few who believe that, but most people point directly at Biden when asked what caused the gasoline price hikes.
Meanwhile, wholesale food prices increased by 10% in February. Like the gasoline price hikes, this amounts to a tax on both rich and poor.
Zelensky spoke to a joint session of Congress by video and asked for more American help. He asked for a no-fly zone over his country enforced by NATO (which he shouldn’t and won’t get) and the Polish MiG-29s that he should but won’t get. Biden promised more military supplies, but it’s hard to see how they can reach Ukrainian forces because Putin is extending his war of conquest into western Ukraine.
Biden continues to be obsessed with a new nuclear weapons deal with Iran. And Russia is managing the negotiations despite the Ukraine war. This week, Biden reportedly exempted Russia’s construction of Iranian nuclear power stations at Bushehr from the sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war. Appeasement already comes in many forms, and Biden is inventing new ones.
John Zogby
Grade C
Biden zoomed with Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday and warned him of serious consequences if China offered assistance to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. I am not really sure of what those consequences are, but the invasion of sovereign Ukraine continues with a great number of casualties and refugees.
The U.S. is flexing its muscles the only way it has left: economic sanctions, American companies withdrawing from the Russian market, and less dependence by both the U.S. and allies on Russian oil and gas.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by 0.25%, and it has promised at least six more raises this year — all aimed at stemming inflation.
The president showed a slight decline in his approval rating, and that is not good. All in all, a Benjamin Harrison kind of week. Not so good. Just a week.
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 partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies
