This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden fast fading on the world stage but seemingly eager to go out with a bang by edging the United States closer to war.
At the G20 economic summit in Brazil, Biden appeared to be a bit player, relegated to the back row of the stage. He ignored questions, blew off the traditional press conference, missed a key photo session with the world leaders and made one statement while appearing disheveled and then just walked away.
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Biden just read scripted remarks, answered no questions and then disappeared into the Amazon Rainforest.
Wildest press conference I’ve ever seen in my life lmao. pic.twitter.com/408DGdmxbQ
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 17, 2024
Biden also signaled a huge policy reversal when he approved the use of land mines in Ukraine to stop Russian troops. That, coupled with his approval of Ukraine firing U.S.-supplied missiles into Russia, prompted Moscow’s launch of an experimental ballistic missile over Ukraine to launch multiple warheads. Several U.S. military analysts said that brought world war much closer to happening soon.
It was notable that Vice President Kamala Harris was AWOL all week, vacationing in Hawaii. Officials said she deserved a break but with only two months left on the job and Biden clearly needing a hand, she should have stayed in Washington.
For such a poor performance this week, Secrets grades Biden with a D-minus.
Meanwhile, the president-in-waiting, President-elect Donald Trump, continued on his fast pace of naming top aides and Cabinet officials. His pick of Matt Gaetz for attorney general blew up, but Trump moved swiftly to replace him with a very popular choice, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. He also named a powerhouse economic team led by Treasury pick Scott Bessent and Russ Voight as his budget chief.
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And the image last weekend of him leading an entourage of Cabinet picks and House Speaker Mike Johnson into Madison Square Garden for a UFC championship fight was a powerful reminder that Trump knows how to fill a stage. For his week of good hires, Secrets grades Trump a B+.
Democratic pollster John Zogby agreed that Biden’s week deserved a D-minus. He also cited the concerns that the outgoing president is pushing America to the brink of war with Russia over support for Ukraine.
But he didn’t like many of Trump’s choices for Cabinet posts and also graded Trump a D-minus.
John Zogby
Biden Grade: D-
Trump Grade: D-
With a bow to C.S. Lewis, we are two presidents none the wiser.
President Joe Biden seemed determined to get us into World War III by allowing Ukraine to drop American-made anti-ballistic and anti-personnel weapons into Russia. All this does is ensure a much longer war of death and destruction for both sides and further frightens our European allies about Russian anger.
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President-elect Donald Trump is hell-bent on causing disruption but some of his choices for Cabinet-level and department heads either have no experience in the fields they oversee or lack the morals and ethics to be anywhere near public service. Americans voted him in but the time to outrage is great theater (I suppose) during the campaign, but civic and civil society must deliver. For me, I don’t expect Cabinet heads to be among the best people on Earth, but I also don’t expect them to be among the worst, either.
Give Mr. Trump his due. He won. Disruption may be a good thing. But try to do better with these folks. Senators, are you listening?
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book, Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should, was just released. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies
