Since President Biden’s lengthy and embarrassing press conference on Wednesday, it’s become abundantly clear how he was never equipped to be sitting in the Oval Office.
He was feisty, he was angry, he was snotty, and he was the opposite of humble when it came to questions about the performance of his administration during the first year of his presidency.
In poll after poll, the American people are giving him failing grades across the board from the economy to foreign policy, and domestic issues like the border and skyrocketing crime. Biden has failed and refuses to acknowledge it at any level.
In that sense, rather than attempt any form of a “reset” as the White House has been touting, Biden appeared to double-down on failure, pledging to continue with the same policies he claims have “overperformed” what anyone expected:
Reporter: "Did you overpromise to the American public what you could achieve in your first year in office."
President Biden: "Why are you such an optimist? Look, I didn't overpromise, and I have probably outperformed what anybody thought would happen." pic.twitter.com/0gE0HLE02y
— The Hill (@thehill) January 20, 2022
The New York Times assembled a focus group recently to test out whether voters think Biden has “overperformed” expectations.
The results are not pretty:
How do independent voters feel about President Biden and America after his first year in office? Let’s put it this way: His weak approval ratings might go up if he pulled a Trump and just declared that America was moving on from the pandemic and he was going all in against inflation and high gas prices. Never mind about voting rights or avoiding another Jan. 6. It’s the economy, Joe.
So it seemed listening to a new Times Opinion focus group with 14 independent voters, who are far more worried about their finances than about Covid’s impact, as the transcript of the conversation below shows. Asked what they held Mr. Biden responsible for and what they would tell him if they had the chance, the independents emphasized energy prices, the economy and the importance of being a moderate, as well as a desire to avoid Covid mandates and lockdowns. The virus might not be done with America, but several of these independents are done with the virus.
Many participants expressed that this is the “lowest point” of their lifetimes when it comes to feeling like the country is going in the wrong direction. Where, in this reality, does Biden believe he “overperformed” his first year in office? Check the full focus group story here, it’s a damning read.
This is what speaks to the total disconnect between whatever is going on in Biden’s head, whatever his advisors tell him, and what the American people are actually experiencing. He’s focused on all the wrong things and last night, after his press conference, the Senate voted down any changes to the filibuster which kills his chances of forcing a federal voting takeover through Congress. His domestic legislative agenda is over for now, and it went down in spectacular flames at the hands of his own party.
Biden took on too much, too soon, and couldn’t seem to care less about the real “kitchen table” issues facing the country.
Instead, Biden says the 2022 midterm election results won’t be legitimate unless the country passes his voting bill. Seriously?
REPORTER: "Do you still believe the upcoming election will be fairly conducted and the results will be legitimate?"
BIDEN: "It all depends depends on whether or not we're able to make the case to the American people that some of this is being set up to alter the outcome…" pic.twitter.com/COdhiTEYhh
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 19, 2022
Oh, Biden also said Vladimir Putin is free to invade Ukraine, so long as it’s a minor incursion:
Biden on Russia invading Ukraine:
"It's one thing if it's a minor incursion…" pic.twitter.com/BFp5jnJYPI
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 19, 2022
The White House fired off a statement to clean that one up after the press conference concluded.
The bottom line here is that Biden’s either delusional, misinformed, uninformed, or not cognizant of what’s going on outside the White House walls. Does he think all media, even the left-wing friendly media is also reporting “fake news” stories about record inflation and empty shelves?
Reports also indicate that the White House itself is in disarray, with Congressional Democrats concerned the President has no message or strategy for the midterms. Furthermore, it’s not clear who is even in charge:
Steve Ricchetti, the trusted Biden aide who sits a few steps away from the Oval Office, is the official point person for conversations with Congress. But Cedric Richmond, director of public engagement, is doing a lot of the outreach to his former peers in the House.
“Who is in charge? Who is running the thing?” said one exasperated Democratic House member, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about their frustration.
Several who’ve known the President for years think that part of why Biden’s political operation isn’t like they’re used to — the constant check-ins, the promises of campaign appearances, the donors used to him grabbing their phones and calling their grandmothers — is that for so long, that operation essentially existed within his own head, even as vice president.
There’s a lot Biden seems to do better in his head than he does in reality, such as operating a competent White House and leading a country.
If this is Biden “overperforming” expectations he set for himself, I’d hate to see what it looks like if he thinks he underperformed.
To circle back to the title question of whether Biden screwed up so badly yesterday that his failures are now cemented to the point where he can’t see a reason to change course, the answer is “Yes.”
Biden has doomed Democrats to devastating losses in the 2022 midterm elections because he refuses to take any ownership of his failed, first-year policies.
