The best defense President Joe Biden and his allies have been able to offer for his failing presidency is that he is a helpless bystander who can’t do anything about anything. When Biden is the common factor in all of these problems, though, maybe he is the problem after all.

“Most Americans still not sold on EVs despite push from Biden, poll finds,” was CBS’s headline from Tuesday. A MarketWatch headline on Monday read, “Your taxes will likely have to go up, despite Biden’s $400K pledge.” That keyword, “despite,” tells us that Biden is supposedly doing all he can, but he simply cannot live up to the campaign promises he made or move the needle on his highest priority problems.