To his enthusiastic supporters, President Joe Biden was supposed to be a fresh, needed change after four years of President Donald Trump.
The events of Jan. 6 worked in favor of the president-elect. The country was told an embarrassing, inept, anti-democratic chapter was concluding. Biden’s America would be better. Only eight months into this new administration, the opposite is true. On top of abysmal failures abroad, COVID-19 continues to rage, and illegal immigration is exploding, just to name a few issues. All of this occurs while a man who is too advanced in age to lead attempts to do just that.
For many who branded themselves Never Trump, this current reality isn’t what they wanted. An unknown quantity of those who loudly rejected the former president didn’t do so as supporters of Biden. Unlike what some disgruntled Republicans believe, not supporting Trump was (and is) not an embrace of a Democratic opponent.
In the immediate aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal disaster, Trump-supporting Republicans sarcastically offered, “At least there are no mean tweets.” Like it or not, Trump’s character as president was a problem. Mean tweets are, in fact, unpresidential. But tweets aren’t the totality of someone’s worth or success as the leader of our nation. There may be no daily Twitter faux pas attached to Biden, but his blunders are remarkable and thoroughly damaging on their own.
Early into the Biden presidency, some well-known Trump supporters were already blaming Never Trumpers for the new president’s mistakes. And this was before the recent disasters on foreign soil. Unsurprisingly, the weight of blame has only increased since then. On the other hand, pundits such as Max Boot have even clutched their pearls in reaction to the GOP’s criticism of Biden. In his mind, a GOP that was led by Trump has no credibility left. This unfairly shields Biden from all the guilt.
While partisans bicker and point fingers, the contingent of Never Trumpers who could support neither Trump nor Biden sees culpability on all sides. Part of the reason there is a President Biden is that President Trump opened the door to a Democratic challenger while he was commander in chief. Democrats saw the chance, offered a supposedly inoffensive candidate, and won. But not being Trump isn’t enough to make one competent. The continued words, actions, and policies of the current administration reinforce that fact.
Neither Trump nor Biden have a right to the votes of disaffected individuals, whatever their party affiliation. Yes, their respective candidacies and presidencies won over numerous fans. Those admirers were and are going to stick around, no matter the tweets or foreign policy disasters.
According to committed Biden supporters, this administration continues to be an improvement over the last one. If you ask those loyal to Trump, they’ll say the opposite is true and wish for Trump’s return. Biden may not elicit a Never Trump movement of his own, but this doesn’t mean he is a favorable choice. It also doesn’t mean Trump should be given another chance at the helm.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
