Biden Is Struggling, but Republicans Aren’t Ready to Govern

(Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images.)

I say the following with full knowledge that it is early in Joe Biden’s presidency, and he has time to turn things around. But let’s be honest. Joe Biden is struggling. The retreat from Afghanistan was a shocking catastrophe. The stalled vaccine effort has led to yet another deadly COVID surge. Job growth has slowed. Inflation is troubling. The crisis at the border shows no signs of abating. Heck, even his big recent foreign policy win—the announcement of a key security agreement with Great Britain and Australia—created a dramatic diplomatic rift with France.

In short, there are reasons why Joe Biden’s approval rating is dropping to Trump-like levels

I know full-well that not everything that happens on a president’s watch is that president’s fault, and that there was a good chance that a number of these crises would have arisen under a second Trump administration as well. But the Afghanistan crisis alone would be reason for deep concern, and both the timing and the manner of the American withdrawal were the president’s call. And that does not excuse one syllable of Trump’s unconscionable deal with the Taliban. Too many Americans were left behind. Too many allies were left behind. American casualties were unacceptable.

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