Our Weekly White House Report Card finds President Trump rolling to the end of a most tumultuous year.
His impeachment seems so last year, but it hangs over him and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delaying tactics in handing off the process to the Senate. Conservative grader Jed Babbin, in giving Trump a “B,” noted that there is a debate on whether the president was even officially impeached.
Democratic pollster John Zogby takes a darker view of Trump, who he grades with a “D,” and said that for many, the president has “rewritten all the rules” to become the “Trash-Talker-in-Chief.”
John Zogby
Grade D
News of Don Imus’ passing was reported just before I wrote this report card.
Imus was the original shock jock and gained fame because he broke all the rules of propriety. He trashed women, gays, African Americans, anyone you can think of. And yet many of the nation’s media and celebrity elite lined up as toadies to be on his radio show to share views on politics and policy.
Several years ago, Imus went too far and insulted the Rutgers University women’s basketball team in their moment of glory. He hit rock bottom and lost his show — only to rise shortly thereafter and regain some of his popularity. His direct descendant is now in the White House — the Trash-Talker-in-Chief — but thus far shows no sign of hitting rock bottom.
President Trump has enabled and empowered the worst angels of our nature. White supremacists no longer lurk in the shadows; refugee children remain separated from their families; ethnic groups are banned and their native countries are denigrated. One Donald died this week; another Donald lives. Don Imus broke all the rules. Donald Trump has rewritten all the rules.
Jed Babbin
Grade B
Was President Trump impeached? Whether he was or not, he had a pretty good week.
House Democrats rushed to impeach Trump because, they said, he was such a great danger to national security. They didn’t press their subpoenas for White House staff (and former national security adviser) John Bolton because they said they couldn’t wait for the courts to work them out.
But Pelosi doesn’t want to send the impeachment to the Senate now, insisting that the Senate must agree to subpoena the people that the House didn’t wait for, insisting that their testimony is still essential. Huh? Now the Democrats are hinting at passing more impeachment articles after the Christmas recess.
The constitutional “experts” are debating whether the impeachment has actually occurred if the House hasn’t filed it with the Senate to start the trial process. It really doesn’t matter. Pelosi, who has zero control over Senate proceedings, may want to hold the impeachment over Trump’s head through the November 2020 election. That will damage Democrats’ chances of taking the White House and holding the House. How many Democratic senators, running for their party’s nomination, want to stay in Washington for the trial instead of getting out to campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina?
Internationally, the story isn’t so good. Turkey — still pretending to be our ally — is about to send troops to join Russian forces in Libya. Iran, Russia, and China are holding joint naval exercises and all that was missing was a North Korean missile launch on Christmas Day. Maybe the launch was delayed by the intentionally leaked story about a special operations drill practicing to take out North Korea’s leaders.
Trump has started to roll back Barack Obama’s inane ban on incandescent light bulbs, and the courts are still whittling away at Obamacare. Trump’s recent executive order against anti-Semitism on campus has resulted in a strong lawsuit against Columbia University for tolerating anti-Semitic professors and anti-Semitic groups in the university. It will be interesting to see how the ACLU reacts to that.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is We Are Many, We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in 21st Century America. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby
Jed Babbin is an Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
