It has been a full year since President Biden declared victory over Donald Trump. To say the honeymoon is over is an understatement. The proof is in the Republican surge in the November 2 election just held, especially in Virginia, and in Biden’s approval ratings, sitting around 42% and dropping. Even President Biden’s trustworthy supporter and echo chamber, The New York Times, wrote, “Mr. Biden’s approval ratings have declined on nearly every issue, and among nearly every demographic group in national surveys over the last two months as the promise of a return to normalcy has given way to rising inflation, a simmering pandemic, gridlock in Washington, and chaos on the border and in Afghanistan.”
President Biden’s freshman report card does not look too good. His cow-towing to his radical Left flank is doing him in.
The economy, including gasoline prices going through the roof, home and building supplies up 20-30%, the failure to fix the transport of vital products from the docks and storage centers, food and medication costs skyrocketing, and the stagnation of the labor force have all contributed to Mr. Biden’s poor grade point average.
The humiliating, disastrous, and bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan probably hurt Mr. Biden the most. I called it Biden’s Waterloo in a previous article, and I stand by that. In the same Times article that I quoted above, the author writes, “Even weeks later, voters still say ‘Afghanistan’ is the negative thing they have most recently heard about Mr. Biden.”
President Biden’s report card looks even worse when you factor in his pressure on Israel. Currently, the administration is trying to shove down the throats of a very fragile Israeli government the illegal and counter-productive opening of a consulate in Jerusalem for Mahmoud Abbas. Not only is this against American law, but it’s totally inappropriate, given the fact that all consular services are provided to the Arab population at the American Embassy in Jerusalem.
Also overlooked is the fact that President Biden has done everything in his power to open the PLO mission in Washington, closed by Donald Trump during his tenure as President. So far, the only thing in Biden’s way has been the Taylor Force Act, which was enacted to stop the “pay to slay” actions by the PA and PLO. This Act makes the PA and PLO liable for damages awarded by a jury if they reopen offices in the United States.
President Biden already agreed to send $235 million to the intransigent PA/PLO coffers without any strings attached. That means that UNRWA and the PLO can continue their use of anti-Semitic textbooks for their youth. This does not inculcate peace; it fosters terrorism.
President Biden’s report card really takes a dive in his handling of Iran. His appointment of Robert Malley as special envoy to Iran at the beginning of his term set the tone for a poor grade. Malley was the architect of the 2015 JCPOA – also known as the Iran Deal. Iran got $150 billion of sanction relief and $1.7 billion in cash for a signature. President Biden is trying hard to make a similar foolhardy deal.
President Biden’s report card is in. And it is far from stellar.
Dr. Joe Frager is Chairman of the Israel Advocacy Commission for the Rabbinical Alliance of America; Chairman of the Executive Committee of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim; Dean at Kollel Ayshel Avraham; Executive Vice President of the Israel Heritage Foundation; and a physician in practice for 41 years.