If you felt last week was extra long, you weren’t alone. In fact, somewhere Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is almost certainly saying the same as he scoops himself an extra serving of chocolate chip ice cream.
From a botched border visit to the Michigan primary to the reappearance of Hunter, the week was anything but smooth for the White House. And it’s unlikely to get any better anytime soon.
Here are the top takeaways from President Biden’s wild week:
The Border Continues to Bedevil Biden
Democrats are desperately trying to get on offense when it comes to immigration and border security. Sensing a real vulnerability, the White House hastily arranged an official trip on the very same day former President Trump was set to make his.
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A competent political organization would use the trip and its backdrop to announce something: new money for the wall, additional border security forces, tightening of administration asylum policy. Something. Anything. To at least make it seem like they’re trying.
Instead, Biden got to the border and doddered around. Saying nothing and doing even less. When asked what he could do to fix the mess, he blamed Republican and claimed he was helpless.
Despite what the White House claims, Biden doesn’t need a law to fix the issues at the border. The idea that he’s unable to do anything on his own is just plain wrong.
There are executive orders aplenty that can make this situation better. He can restart the Remain in Mexico policy. He can also reinstall the emergency declaration he ended on his first day in office that will allow a large pot of money to help staunch the flow of migrants.
He can even do smaller things to show he’s taking action. Maybe that’s getting on the phone and play hardball with the countries allowing the surge of migrants through their own borders en route to ours? Maybe that means shaking up your team handling this, including Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas?
I’ve rattled more ideas off in the last 30 seconds than they have in the last three years.
From 2008 until about 2019, border apprehensions averaged about 400,000 a year
Biden’s first full year in office they shot up to 1.6 million and have not been below that since.
And let’s remember, for years his team insisted the border was secure. They refused to acknowledge anything other than that. Now, at the drop of a hat, it’s a crisis that warrants passing a massive bill through a divided Congress — particularly a House of Representative with a narrow majority. And without it, there’s nothing President Biden can do.
Wrong.
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Missed Opportunity in Michigan
Far from the southern border, another crisis reared its head for the Biden campaign. This time in Michigan.
An organized band of far-left activists, unhappy with Biden’s support of Israel, started a campaign to vote "uncommitted" in Tuesday’s primary. The effort outperformed expectations, gaining over 13% of the vote and delivering a repudiation of the president by his own party.
I’ll be the first to say it’s easy to sit and pout when it’s February or March. There are no stakes and the only consequences are embarrassing a president whom many on the left don’t really like that much.
I have a hard time believing the far-left activists who spent much of the last decade in resistance marches against Donald Trump will look at the choice between Biden and Trump in early November and stay home.
However, on a tactical level, this was an important test for the Biden campaign. Michigan is a must-win state for them this fall. Period.
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Tuesday’s primary was the chance to stress test their political organization. Can they get their own supporters out in force and beat back what was quickly becoming an embarrassment for the president?
The answer is well, no.
They better hope they fix it before November.
Hunter is Back
Any day where Hunter Biden is making news is not a good day for the Biden campaign.
In an exclusive interview on Monday, Hunter told Axios "we are in the middle of a fight for the future of democracy." They went on to report that he "sees his sobriety as crucial not only to his life but also to ensuring Donald Trump doesn't become president again." On a human level, I genuinely hope he stays sober and healthy.
It’s also patently absurd to view one’s sobriety as determining the very fate of democracy in this country.
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So yet again, Hunter comes out of the woodwork with a self-delusional statement that turns the spotlight away from the White House’s message and onto himself.
Somewhere a White House communications staffer is putting their fist through a wall.
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
If you thought last week was wild, just wait. This week is poised to be even wilder.
Super Tuesday will award scores of delegates from Maine to California, while Thursday night will bring together the president, Congress, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and other leaders under one roof for the State of the Union. And who knows what else will be mixed in that we don’t expect.
All I can say is: Buckle up.
