Weekly Report Card: Biden in minefield of his own making

This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden deep in an economic and diplomatic hole that he dug himself.

The Treasury Department said the deficit has reached $1.7 trillion, and many blame the president’s big spending.

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Overseas, he’s stuck between firm backing of Israel’s retaliation for the Hamas terrorist war and pressure from pro-Palestinian supporters, many of whom are part of his political coalition, to stop Israel.

And the House GOP push for impeachment is closing in, and the National Archives didn’t help when it said it had over 80,000 emails from Biden when he was vice president that were written under a pseudonym.

Both our graders dumped on Biden but for different reasons.

Pollster John Zogby said that Biden’s electoral coalition is deserting him over the administration’s failure to win an Israeli pause in the Gaza war. “Politically, he is on the path of losing the support of younger voters, people of color, and moderate independents,” he said in grading a D-minus.

Conservative Jed Babbin took the opposite view of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war to grade the week an “F.” He said, “Biden is reportedly pushing for a humanitarian pause — i.e., a temporary ceasefire — in the Israel and Hamas war and is also indicating that the Israelis should dump long-term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Great. Interfering in the internal politics of an ally while it’s fighting for its life.”

John Zogby
Grade: D-

Yes, 150,000 new jobs have been created, and the unemployment rate is at 3.9%. Of course, this is important, but not as important, as consultant James Carville once said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” No one really is talking about that.

As I write this, over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, quadruple that number have been injured, and many more may never be counted. Let me not mince words: this is genocide and ethnic cleansing. Of course, Hamas started it all, but so too did a brutal occupation and a choking of the economy of the Gaza economy. If Israel has a ‘right’ to defend itself, when is enough too much?

With seeming impunity, Israel’s military spokesmen tell us they will destroy Hamas, that Hamas’ leaders are hiding in schools and hospitals, yet say they are doing everything to prevent the deaths of innocents. And President Joe Biden? He merely utters that Israel should call for a ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid to the innocent civilians of Gaza to receive some aid. Is this a superpower? Is ‘urging’ a ceasefire what we expect from one country that purports to be based on human rights to say to another that purports to be based on the same values? There are no heroes in this battle — but there are a lot of innocent victims. And, yes, on both sides.

The president has failed dramatically in meeting this challenge. Beyond the morality of enabling genocide, he has endangered Americans and United States interests and failed to stop a U.S. ally from committing acts that the nation has condemned in Serbia, Rwanda, and Kosovo.

As a grader, I am obliged to look at the total picture. He is saved by the jobs report. But politically, he is on the path of losing support of younger voters, people of color, and moderate independents. Biden can gloat about another good economic week, but not so much if Americans are worried about WWIII.

Jed Babbin
Grade: F

It was another dismal week for President Joe Biden and his team. The threat of terrorism is way up, the Treasury Department announced a huge deficit, and Biden & Co. are calling for a “pause” in Israel’s defensive war against Hamas, which can only benefit the terrorists.

Treasury’s announcement was that we now have a deficit — the gap between taxes collected and spending — of $1.7 trillion. That’s an increase of 23% in one year. With Bidenomics comes hugely more spending, so the deficit — and inflation and a whole lot of other economic ills — will continue for at least the year.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress that the threat of terrorism from al Qaeda and other groups has reached a “whole other level” since the outbreak of the Hamas war on Israel. And that’s with terrorists coming across our southern and northern borders at an unknown rate. People from Iran, Afghanistan, and other nations that support terrorists are all coming in, and Biden refuses to do anything to close the border to illegals.

On the foreign policy side, after Biden lifted sanctions on Venezuela (to buy oil we should be producing ourselves), the Maduro government almost immediately reneged on its promise of fair elections. Meanwhile, Biden is reportedly pushing for a “humanitarian pause” — i.e., a temporary ceasefire — in the Israel and Hamas war and is also indicating that the Israelis should dump long-term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Great. Interfering in the internal politics of an ally while it’s fighting for its life.

And, of course, the National Archives found another 82,000 pages of Biden’s emails (sent and answered under his various pseudonyms) and is refusing to release all but a few pages of them to Congress.

Were that not enough — and it’s way more than we want — the White House Council on Environmental Quality is about to issue a rule imposing California requirements on all states’ procedures for environmental compliance. Not only is this a monumentally bad idea, it’s probably illegal. The CEQ doesn’t have rule-making powers.

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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. Follow him on Twitter @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 Twitter @jedbabbin