White House Report Card: Biden elevates Harris to president

This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden stepping into the shadows of his vice president and newly-minted presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, instantly making him a “lame duck.”

On issues they see as positives such as prisoner swap with the Kremlin, Harris has been elevated to an equal planner with Biden. Both met the prisoners at Joint Base Andrews and Harris said of Biden, “This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances.”

Harris has also adopted Biden’s practice of avoiding questions on problem issues, such as the shocking jump in unemployment, the cancellation of a disastrous illegal immigrant parole program, and the threat of extinction Israel faces from the axis of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

In looking at the week, grader and Democratic pollster John Zogby focused on the positives. In grading the week an “A,” he highlighted the multi-country prisoner exchange. “This is what presidents are for,” said Zogby.

Conservative grader Jed Babbin, who gave the week an “F,” cited Biden’s political play in promising to “reform” the U.S. Supreme Court in a way that helps liberals. 

John Zogby

Grade: A

Vice President Kamala Harris has shaken up the presidential race and our polling has her leading former President Donald Trump by four points.

But, remember, Joe Biden is still the president, and he had another good week. Economic growth has continued, and job growth has slowed to 114,000 new jobs last month — but that is still job growth. Unemployment has climbed to 4.3%, and major retail companies are laying off tens of thousands. The silver lining is that inflation continues to ease, and the Federal Reserve, while missing an opportunity to lower rates this week, will be able to come together again in September and start the process of making mortgages more affordable and business loans more palatable for growth.

But the biggest news of the week for Biden was the release of American hostages from Russia. It was a triumph of diplomacy among seven countries, each with its own complications. Biden has shown the value of solid alliances, and, more importantly, credible personal relationships. As proof, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who agreed to help seal the exchange by releasing a convicted Russian killer, reportedly told Biden, “For you I will do this.” This is what presidents are for.

Jed Babbin

Grade: F

It was another week of attempted vote buying by President Joe Biden and his minions as well as more blather about reforming the U.S. Supreme Court to accomplish the progressives’ agenda. And then again there’s the Palestinian Authority agreement with the terrorists of Hamas engineered and hosted by China.

The Biden crew spent the week spending tax money, which is their usual game. Biden said he’d forgive another 25 million student loans which, as we’ve noted several times, the courts — including the Supreme Court — said Biden couldn’t do. That is a big threat to democracy, which Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris want us to ignore in their rants about former President Donald Trump’s “threats” to democracy.

And then there is Biden’s plan to give billions of dollars to black farmers for past discrimination against them. The farm vote is important and never let it be said that Biden ignored it while buying the votes of student loan borrowers.

And then again there’s Biden’s plan to reform the Supreme Court, which even Attorney General Merrick Garland could tell him can’t be accomplished without a Constitutional amendment. Not that one is in the offing. Biden and Harris want to make SCOTUS the issue because all they have to run on is unlimited abortion. When SCOTUS turned the question back to the states in overturning Roe vs. Wade, it didn’t ban abortion nor is there any Republican effort to enact a federal ban. That can’t be done under the Supreme Court’s ruling. But never mind because it makes a good issue for those who aren’t informed. Abortion is the only thing the Democrats have left. They can’t succeed on Biden policy issues, which Harris won’t deviate from.

And then there’s Biden’s and Harris’s silence on the Palestinian Authority’s agreement with Hamas. They won’t say a word about it because it blows their favorite theory of a postwar Gaza government by the Palestinian Authority out of the water.

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.