This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden fighting off a new round of consultant backstabbing over his reelection campaign and continued efforts to replace him at the top of the 2024 Democratic ticket.
Democratic pollster and grader John Zogby described the battle as shameful and said that the “consultant-industrial complex” is in full panic mode months too early and at a time when they should be rallying around the president. What’s more, Zogby said that they are worrying for nothing, considering that some polls show Biden still tied with former President Donald Trump.
For his part, Trump had a miserable week, being convicted of 34 charges in New York.
The White House was socked again by a report that inflation was not cooling but remaining above the Fed’s 2% goal. And Biden offered up yet another Gaza peace plan without first winning any support from Israel.
Even worse, said conservative grader Jed Babbin, the administration’s efforts in Gaza turned disastrous when its $320 million humanitarian aid pier broke apart in a storm, what he called “the perfect metaphor for the Biden administration.”
John Zogby
Grade: C+
It only stands to reason that when your opponent is convicted on 34 felony charges, then there is potential for a good week. That is what happened, and President Joe Biden had reason to cheer.
There was also some good economic news this week. Consumer confidence metrics were higher and fears of recession were down. The annualized rate of inflation held steady at 2.7%. That is the calculation that the Federal Reserve uses in its deliberations so it was at least some validation of progress for Biden.
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In a new poll for PBS/NPR, the president not only led Trump but reached 50%, a horse race figure he has seen only rarely in the past year.
On the other hand, the president keeps drawing imaginary red lines for Israel to not cross in Rafah, where Israel crosses them with U.S. weapons, and then new red lines have to be drawn. Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have given Israel more red lines than a “Where’s Waldo” shirt. They have also given “approval” to Ukraine to use American weapons to attack inside Russia’s border, threatening a full-scale NATO war.
And ’tis the season for backstabbing from the consultant-industrial complex. Usually, these folks express doom in October and privately throw in the towel so they can (1) avoid blame for a loss, and (2) position themselves for the next lucrative loss. But, hell now, in May? They are talking about how to remove Biden from the ticket. That never works for the consultant class.
As for the Trump convictions, it comes at a time when the two candidates are at parity, so I expect him to drop a few points, especially among independents and suburban moms in the short term, giving Biden a small lead going into next week.
Jed Babbin
Grade D-
President Joe Biden thinks he won the week simply by the expedient of former President Donald Trump having been convicted by a New York City jury. Biden said that “no one is above the law.” Really? Not even Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton or first son Hunter Biden?
As Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pointed out, Biden engaged in what is pretty clearly witness tampering in the coming Hunter trial, with his sudden visit to Hallie Biden — late son Beau’s wife before she became Hunter’s mistress — who is scheduled to testify in the trial of Hunter on violating gun laws. If Biden didn’t try to persuade her to help clear Hunter, I’ll eat my hat.
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said that the late George Floyd, who died in police custody four years ago on May 25, “changed the world.” Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, and Guglielmo Marconi changed the world. George Floyd’s death won’t be a footnote in the history books.
Inflation remains stubbornly high, and the Fed is talking about raising interest rates again to try to slow the overheated inflation.
In the rest of the world, Biden has given permission to Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-made weapons in strikes inside Russia, which only raises the risk of World War III. Ireland, Spain, and Norway recognized a “Palestinian state” with borders on the pre-1967 war lines and a joint Israeli-Palestinian “capital” of Jerusalem.
Perhaps the worst thing Biden did this week was attempt to persuade Britain and France not to censure Iran at the June meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Biden is turning a blind eye to Iran’s progress to nuclear weapons. Iran has enough enriched uranium to build about five nukes in weeks. And Biden is protecting Iran from even the mild nudge the IAEA could do. Biden’s envoys are also trying to talk Iran out of more escalation in its wars against Israel and the rest of civilization.
And the perfect metaphor for the Biden administration is that its $320 million pier off the Gaza Strip totally failed. Almost all of the relief it passed into Gaza (which wasn’t a significant amount anyway) was stolen by Hamas terrorists. And then the pier broke apart in high winds. Joe hasn’t said if he’s going to rebuild it. He probably remembers passing over the Gaza pier on a commuter train.
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John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Their firm polls for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.
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 X @jedbabbin.
