Our Weekly White House Report Card finds President Trump running out of options as he presses claims that he beat President-elect Joe Biden on Election Day.
Several courts have rejected his claims that many ballots should be tossed out because they were fraudulent. Still, his team continues to collect evidence, although the Electoral College vote to confirm Biden’s election is nearing, and Trump said it will be “hard to concede.”
Conservative grader Jed Babbin said that Trump had some highlights this week, including the pardoning of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was a figure in the Russia investigation.
Democratic pollster John Zogby said that Trump’s refusal to junk his legal fight and concede is unforgivable.
Jed Babbin
Grade B+
President Trump had a very good week, exiting the “Open Skies” Treaty with Russia, pardoning retired Gen. Michael Flynn, announcing that the COVID-19 vaccinations will be available in about two weeks, and announcing that he would leave office if the Electoral College confirms President-elect Joe Biden’s election.
The Cold War-era “Open Skies” Treaty was another arms control agreement. It entitled both nations to conduct inspection flights over each other to track military developments. We were complying with it, but Russia was concealing its moves from our flights, so Trump was right to ditch it. Biden will likely revive it quickly.
The full pardon Trump granted to Flynn ended a four-year unjustifiable persecution that included abuses of power by the FBI, then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, and a federal district court judge. Flynn, who had opposed a pardon because it carries a stigma of possible guilt, accepted it with gratitude, knowing that the persecution would continue in a Biden administration.
Trump finally allowed the General Services Administration to begin enabling Biden’s transition and said that he’d leave office if Biden’s election was confirmed by the Electoral College, thus ending left-wing hype that he wouldn’t do so.
The announcement that the coronavirus vaccine, maybe more than one of them, will be available to medical workers and senior citizens within the next couple of weeks sent the stock market up and encouraged everyone. Trump’s “Operation Warp Speed” to develop the vaccines is about to pay off.
John Zogby
Grade F
I was actually going to give President Trump a higher grade this week for finally somewhat “ascertaining” what every battleground state official and over 80% of the country has concluded. Namely, he has lost the election, and he will indeed leave the White House on Jan. 20, 2021.
But, as is so often the case, he went too far. Now, he says President-elect Joe Biden must prove that he got 80 million votes and that he has to complete all of his court filings before he will commit to recognizing Biden’s victory. Remember, he has already lost 30 court filings. This is not embarrassing. It is sick.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 numbers are sky high, and we fear them getting worse. Someone killed the leading nuclear scientist in Iran, and we know nothing about the details. And Biden will finally get his first private presidential-level intelligence briefings starting Monday — almost one month after Election Day.
This is a farce. It is not supposed to be about Trump. It is supposed to be about us.
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and a former deputy undersecretary for the Department 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
