White House Report Card: Biden sinks lower, to ‘supplicant’ status

This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden’s approval rating continuing to sink, his reelection on the ropes, his impeachment green-lighted by the House, and his son Hunter in greater legal trouble. There were positive signs about the economy, but voters don’t believe he should get any credit, something the White House is trying to turn around before Election Day.

In a pre-Christmas bid for support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington and, with Biden, sought more financial help from Congress. Republicans, more concerned about the American border war than Ukraine, said that they should get tax dollars first.

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Conservative grader Jed Babbin gave Biden another F, noting that other failures this week included a weak international climate deal and the muddying of America’s position on the Israel-Hamas war.

Democratic pollster John Zogby played up the good economic news in grading the week a C-minus but noted Biden’s weak polls and said that on Israel, the president “was sounding more like a supplicant than the most powerful man in the world.”

Jed Babbin
Grade: F

This was another rough week for President Joe Biden. The House began its impeachment inquiry, his cocaine-sniffing son defied a congressional subpoena, and he made promises to the United Nations’s climate change grifters that could shut down about 60% of United States electricity generating plants.

The downhill slide began on Tuesday when Biden seemed to first realize that his spending spree caused the inflation America is suffering. He said, “I know many Americans still find too many things unaffordable.” Ya think?

Nevertheless, Biden is continuing to spend. He promised the United Nation’s COP 28 group another $3 billion for the climate fund. His administration also promised the eco-advocates that he would enforce new EPA climate rules on all coal-fired electric generation plants, which they can’t possibly comply with. That would have the effect of closing down the aforementioned 60% of electric generation.

House Republicans’ Biden impeachment inquiry was voted to go ahead. They won’t manage to throw Biden out of office, but Biden’s corruption — from first son Hunter’s dealings around the world and especially in China — could put Biden on the front page all next year. Hunter’s defiance of a House subpoena resulted in contempt of Congress proceedings also being begun. It will be another helpful headline in January and February. Wanna bet whether Biden’s Justice Department will help the Republicans enforce a contempt citation against Hunter Biden?

Meanwhile, the president is trying to micromanage Israel’s defensive war on Hamas. He and his minions are demanding that the war be over in January, despite the historically proven reality that wars can’t be run on artificial timetables. Defying Biden, the Israelis say they’ll go it alone if necessary.

And to top it all off, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington to plead for more aid. Biden, having failed to get any from Congress, gave Zelensky $200 million in U.S. arms, drawing down ammo stocks yet again.

John Zogby
Grade: C-

There was more good economic news as the stock markets soar and gold is really worth gold. There is even a change in conversation about the economy as gas prices go down and folks are spending more. Congress gives the military a substantial pay raise.

But few voters are giving President Joe Biden any credit.

He is shifting his view on Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza, but not his tone. He is sounding more like a supplicant than the most powerful man in the world, and this is not being lost on either younger voters who favor a ceasefire or independents who are horrified by the destruction and death in the region.

Biden continues to lag in the polls, and one poll even shows him trailing former Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump-era United Nations ambassador, by 17 points.

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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.

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.