This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden still in France after several days of D-Day ceremonies.
In speeches to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the World War II invasion of Nazi-controlled France by allied troops, Biden’s words were adequate but didn’t compare to the notable pro-democracy speeches of the past from former Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
Before leaving for France, Biden did something he previously said he couldn’t in issuing an executive order to limit illegal border crossings. The order was mocked for having multiple loopholes in it, and migrants crossing the border didn’t care, still coming across.
The economy kept sputtering along, adding far more jobs than expected. But the jobs report’s good news was offset by details showing fewer people in full-time jobs. The unemployment rate increased to 4% as a result.
More polls showed the 2024 presidential race tightening, but former President Donald Trump is still in the lead and up in the key battleground states that will determine the electoral vote count. Both sides posted critical videos of their opponents. Biden, who received five student draft deferments and a medical exemption from serving in Vietnam, posted an ad featuring three veterans criticizing Trump’s lack of service.
After a few weeks of our graders in agreement over Biden’s problems, they split. Democratic pollster John Zogby put his focus on the economy and said the jobs report bolstered Biden. Conservative analyst Jed Babbin highlighted Biden’s border effort, calling it “baloney.”
John Zogby
Grade: B
President Joe Biden was buoyed by the latest jobs report. Economists were expecting 180,000 new jobs created last month and were stunned to see the new Labor Department report of 272,000 added in May. In addition, wages grew more than expected and the job market is viewed as healthy for employers and employees alike.
The president got a bonus opportunity to address the world stage, meet with global leaders, and spend a little time with several Normandy veterans during the week-long 80th anniversary of D-Day. He wasn’t John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan, but he delivered a powerful message about the need to preserve democracy. He was also one of the youngest people on the dais.
His polling numbers remain anemic but he still had a good week.
Jed Babbin
Grade D-
It was a fun week for White House observers. The Biden border baloney, his performance at the D-Day eventm and a fun anti-Trump ad can be summed up as, well, another commode-hugging week for the Biden crew.
President Joe Biden tried to pull a fast one with his big executive order announcement on immigration. He pretended to crack down on border security but, as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said, it’s a scam. There are so many loopholes and other built-in fail-safes for illegal migrants it will do absolutely nothing to control, far less reduce the number of illegals that can come in each and every week. And, of course, there is the Biden regime’s action in dismissing over 200,000 deportation cases. That means all those people who should — even under Biden’s absurd limitations of deportations — be tossed out of the country can stay.
Biden’s mental acuity led to him to appear confused and lost after his D-Day speech in Normandy, France. You can watch the grim facts on the RNC website.
The fun part of the week came in a D-Day anti-Trump ad produced by the Biden-Harris campaign in which three veterans severely criticized Trump for being a draft dodger. Trump’s lack of military service doesn’t compare with Biden’s ‘heroism’: Doesn’t he think that he led Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in 1898, won the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima in 1945, and shot down 23 Iraqi fighter jets in the 1991 Gulf War?
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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. Their firm polls for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Follow him on X @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 X @jedbabbin.