In this week’s White House Report Card, President Trump continued to face questions about his leadership on the coronavirus and his weak approval rating with just four months until Election Day. But he did finally block ally Roger Stone from going to jail for the Russia affair, won the fight to keep his tax returns from Congress, and strengthened America’s relationship with Mexico.
Conservative grader Jed Babbin said Trump should have received better coverage for his speech at Mount Rushmore for condemning the cancel culture mob. He also noted the brewing confusion over base renaming plans. Democratic pollster John Zogby said the president’s approval rating is lower than it should be to win reelection, but he also noted some troubles for opponent Joe Biden.
Jed Babbin
Grade B-
What should have been a good week for President Trump after his July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore was turned sour by the media and the Supreme Court.
The Mount Rushmore speech was one of the best Trump has given. But if you relied on the media coverage of it, you’d believe it was a paean to racism. It was nothing of the sort, but the media spent the week claiming that Trump’s speech was racist and equating support for Trump to racism. Trump’s praise for America and Americanism was right on the money, as was his condemnation of the mob violence that’s rippling across the nation.
We have a totally corrupt previous Administration, including a President and Vice President who spied on my campaign, AND GOT CAUGHT…and nothing happens to them. This crime was taking place even before my election, everyone knows it, and yet all are frozen stiff with fear….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2020
Trump is his own worst enemy on even these subjects. Why bother to defend the Washington Redskins team name or call the NASCAR Bubba Wallace noose incident a “hoax” when the story had been dead for a week? Shortly after Trump rejected changing the names of military bases named for Confederate generals, both Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley said they were considering doing just that.
The Supreme Court published two decisions on Trump’s tax returns and financial records. In one, it dismissed Trump’s claim of immunity from state grand jury proceedings, clearing the way for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to get access to the tax returns and records at some point. The other decision, regarding congressional subpoenas for the same materials, raised barriers to congressional pursuit of them. Congress will have to show, to a judge’s satisfaction, that the subpoenas are for a legitimate legislative oversight purpose and not just to harass Trump. That’s a standard which could, with a fair judge, prove hard to satisfy. In all, Trump’s tax returns and financial records probably won’t be accessed before the election. If Trump is reelected, their release to Congress and the prosecutors (which will be leaked in nanoseconds) will be just in time for the next round of impeachment by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, and the other usual suspects.
John Zogby
Grade D
President Trump’s approval rating is at 42%, and that is basically what he is polling against Biden, who at this moment leads him by about 8 points. Our new John Zogby Strategies Poll has Biden ahead 49% to 42%, and those are simply not good numbers for an incumbent.
Trump took another drubbing this week from larger majorities of the Supreme Court — including his own appointees. While it is doubtful that he will be forced to release his taxes to a prosecutor before the election, Biden has certainly been given powerful ammunition in the campaign.
Biden will be able to show that candidates for all offices must show their taxes, wear masks in public not only for their health but the health of others, and generally tell the truth. Trump is vulnerable on all of these. More importantly, a solid majority feel he is not handling the virus leadership well, and 75% still feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Evidence in our poll does, however, show that Biden (who led by 13 points last month in the Zogby Strategies poll) is starting to slip a little among some key demographics. I am not going to fail the president this week, but he better get someone smarter to take his tests for him if he hopes to go to graduate school.
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and a 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 a senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby
