This week’s White House Report Card finds the nation entering an awkward period where the sitting president is becoming irrelevant, and the incoming president is prematurely taking charge.
Take Saturday’s celebration of the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as an example. It’s not President Joe Biden that is the headliner for America but President-elect Donald Trump. Yes, first lady Jill Biden is in attendance, but it’s Trump who is receiving all the news media’s attention and the coverage is about how he is being welcomed back by world leaders.
It comes at the end of a week when Trump’s threats of tariffs once in office have prompted Canada and Mexico to reverse course and promise to help control their borders. Biden, meanwhile, is coming off a trip to Angola that was notable for his gift of $1 billion in tax dollars and his nodding off during a roundtable discussion.
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Biden just fell asleep smack in the middle of a summit with African leaders pic.twitter.com/fs692GkE1A
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 4, 2024
And the continued strengthening of the economy and employment was overshadowed by the Trump DOGE effort on Capitol Hill and the visit by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to outline for Congress their plan for $2 trillion in cuts.
But most of all, and the reason Secrets grades Biden’s week an “F,” is because of his flip-flop to pardon his son Hunter and his consideration of pre-emptive pardons to lawmakers and supposed federal law enforcement officials that Trump doesn’t like.
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A Historic Day in Paris!
Today marks the grand reopening of the breathtaking Notre-Dame Cathedral, reborn after years of restoration following the devastating 2019 fire.
This monumental event brings together global leaders including President-elect Donald Trump,… pic.twitter.com/dqbFSnmMhk
— Francois Leclerc (@f_leclerc20037) December 7, 2024
Sen. Michael Bennet, (D-CO), said Biden’s decision placed “personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.”
Our co-grader, Democratic pollster John Zogby, hit Biden’s pardon and graded the president a “C” for the week. And in evaluating Trump, Zogby gave a better grade of “B-” because of the former and incoming president’s efforts to control bloated Washington. Below is his analysis of the two presidents.
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John Zogby
Biden Grade: C
It must be very difficult to be treated as a former president while you are still the president.
President Joe Biden traveled to Angola, his first trip to Africa as leader of the United States, and barely anyone noticed, including the audiences he addressed.
He also is still experiencing serious fallout from pardoning his son, Hunter — a rare bipartisan moment in his White House tenure. While not so bad for a father to do this when he has the power, it’s only that he was so adamant that would never do it. That is called hypocrisy, and it does not look good on a “Legacy Resume.”
On the other hand, he still had some successes to report. Last month, the U.S. economy created 227,000 new jobs as the unemployment rate ticked up — because more people were in the workforce looking for work. The growth of inflation continued down, and the deaths from painkillers have dramatically decreased. All in all, despite some ham-handed foreign policy errors, the Biden presidency has been okay. It’s just that nobody feels good about it today.
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Trump Grade: B-
Alas, we have another president. President-elect Donald Trump is bound and determined not simply to raise controversy with his appointments to both his Cabinet and agency leadership, he is working hard to outrage those inside the Beltway. This may not be a bad thing if he is serious about cutting government size and spending. Reducing spending is a must to control the debt and deficit — but he is in the fight of his life going against bureaucrats who want to save their livelihoods, and have the money to spread around to hungry congressional representatives. Even those folks out there who want to eliminate government waste still expect their payments and services to come whole and on time.
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.
