According to this week’s White House Report Card, President Joe Biden is largely staying in the background, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to now command public and media attention as she begins her “quiet exit” phase.
As usual, he is spending the weekend at his beach resort in Delaware and no events are planned.
We saw him in clips of a CBS News interview that was notable for suggesting that the post-election period could be chaotic if former President Donald Trump doesn’t win. He also appeared at a White House celebration of the 2023 World Series winner, the Texas Rangers, and said at one point, “All right, what do I do now?”
Harris, meanwhile, chose liberal Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The duo hit the campaign trail and were greeted by large crowds and enthusiastic supporters – including an enthusiastic press that was happy to overlook her political mistakes and his radical policies.
Conservative pollster Jed Babbin gave the week an “F,” citing the ongoing crisis at the border that allowed 99 terrorists into the country. Democratic pollster John Zogby gave the week a “B,” citing an improving jobs report and a rebound in the stock market.
Jed Babbin
Grade: F
This week I witnessed another terrible performance by the Biden-Harris team: terrorists crossing the border, $239 million being transferred to the Taliban, and the stock market reacting just days after President Joe Biden announced he had “healed” the economy.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California drew the biggest laugh of the week when she said Biden was so important that his face should hang on Mount Rushmore alongside former presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. She said this after saying she did not lead the opposition campaign that caused Joe to abandon his re-election campaign.
Two days after Biden announced he had cured the economy, U.S. stock markets (and others around the world) plunged, losing more than 2,000 points. How much more Biden “cure” can the world take?
A new SIGAR report – the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction – says the State Department mismanaged its grants and transferred $239 million in “counterterrorism” funds to the Taliban, who are, of course, terrorists. And no one is being fired for this mistake.
And now we learn that 99 people on the terrorist list have entered the United States. Among the two million “escapees” – that is, those who have completely evaded border patrol – who have entered the country under the Biden-Harris administration, there are certainly even more terrorists and other criminals.
We wonder how the media can so frequently label former President Donald Trump and his supporters as “radicals” while Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris do everything they can to prove themselves to be genuine radicals. And now we must watch “Tampon Tim” Walz, the progressive governor from Minnesota who is on Harris’s ticket.
Johannes Zogby
Grade: B
Initial jobless claims fell and stock markets appear to have stabilized after their slump last week.
Hezbollah is ready for a major attack on Israel, regardless of its sponsor’s wishes. There is great fear in the region, and once again the US, with its battleships, weapons depots and advisers, is able to act as a deterrent and deter a major attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reluctantly agreed to resume negotiations for a ceasefire, but no one believes him. The chaos threatens to get even worse.
President Joe Biden is mostly out of sight, shielding himself from the daily routine of criticism about his age and mental acuity. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has named a running mate and is ahead in most polls, including in some crucial swing states. She is in the midst of a honeymoon phase that is expected to last until the end of the Democratic National Convention. The race is now decided, and former President Donald Trump appears out of form, while his vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), misses no opportunity to anger broad swathes of voters. A good week for the White House.
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Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner Staff writer and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the administration of former President George HW Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.
Johannes Zogby is the founder of Zogby Survey and a senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His podcast with son, managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Their firm conducts polls for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.
