In this week’s White House Report Card, our graders remain critical of President Trump, who is getting back to campaigning for reelection and taking steps to address the outcry for leadership on the George Floyd protests.
It was another tough week, though, with growing signs of division between the White House and the Pentagon over actions taken to quell protest riots, which worked. At the end of the week, Trump decried the death of Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody and shifted the date of his first rally next week away from the anniversary date of the end of slavery “out of respect.”
And there were several conflicting 2020 election polls showing different outcomes in the race between Trump and Joe Biden that led to a new fight in the industry over how to do polls.
We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020
Conservative analyst Jed Babbin suggested the president back off his Twitter use, which is unlikely. And Democratic pollster John Zogby continued to shake his head at the White House, concluding that the “presidency is in shambles this week.”
Jed Babbin
Grade C-
Trump had a much better week than the previous one, with action against the International Criminal Court and bashing the governor of Washington state and Seattle’s mayor for not taking the streets back from antifa, but as usual, it was marred by some over-the-top tweets.
For about a week, a large chunk of downtown Seattle, including a police station, has been taken over by antifa anarchists. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, both hardcore liberals, have taken no action to restore order. Trump said if they didn’t act to restore order, he would, and he didn’t. Empty threats diminish Trump’s already-shaky credibility. Meanwhile, Seattle police report that antifa is requiring businesses and residents of the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” to pay for “permits” to live and operate there. As a senior Seattle police officer said the other day, that’s extortion. In my hometown (the Bronx), we called it “the protection racket.”
Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020
In Buffalo, a 75-year-old protester was knocked down in a scuffle with police. Trump tweeted that the man fell harder than he was pushed, implying that the protester intentionally hurt himself. Come on, man. Why even comment on such a relatively trivial incident?
Congressional calls for renaming military bases named for Confederate generals are mounting. While Trump is dead set against it, the secretary of the Army isn’t. The media are trying to make that part of a major breach between Trump and the Pentagon. They cite the apology by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley for appearing with Trump at a church that had been firebombed and Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s apology for using the term “battle space” in describing how troops might operate in civilian protests or riots as evidence of the breach. They’re exaggerating, but there is the danger of a real breach that Trump needs to avoid.
The ICC is a U.N. body that is supposedly independent, but it is dominated by U.S. adversaries and Third World irrelevancies. For years, its chief prosecutor has wanted to go after U.S. troops and senior U.S. defense officials for their conduct in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They also want to go after Israel for its actions against Palestinian terrorists. Trump signed an executive order authorizing long-overdue economic sanctions against any ICC official pursuing such cases.
John Zogby
Grade F
The U.S. is at a tipping point — a direct and inevitable confrontation between an older and whiter population with more conservative values versus a younger, more diverse, more metropolitan mindset and lifestyle. This dynamic is not new, but within a very short period of time, the latter will be in the majority.
President Trump, the self-styled “law and order president,” has chosen to fight for a system of values and institutions that are phasing out. He was able to rally this group sufficiently in 2016 against a seriously damaged opponent, but it may not work this time. Polls taken in June (i.e. entirely after the public murder of George Floyd) show his opponent, Biden, with double-digit leads nationwide and show Biden leading in the key battleground states. If the election were held today, the former vice president would win in a landslide.
The election is not today, and events may once again intervene to change the course of the election. But for now, the president’s strategy of only trying to rally his own base is risky at best.
Our John Zogby Strategies Poll has Trump behind among voters over 65 by 10 points — hence, his call for law and order. He is also suffering among suburban women and white Catholics. It is doubtful he can win them back with conspiracy theories, insensitivity to the calls of black people, a second wave of COVID-19, and record unemployment. His presidency is in shambles this 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 Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby
