White House Report Card: Hunter’s noose tightens around Biden’s neck

This week’s White House report card finds President Joe Biden back in Delaware after a state visit to Canada.

He is at another point in his presidency where things look good or bad, depending on the perspective. Just consider his approval ratings. Some have him in the high 40s, others in the high 30s. Biden is planning to hit the campaign trail to brag about the economy, but the Federal Reserve is so worried about continued inflation that it just raised interest rates again in the middle of a bank failure crisis.

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Biden continues to be preparing for his reelection bid. But there are reports that he views Vice President Kamala Harris as a disaster. And in the GOP-controlled House, committees are amassing evidence of shady financial deals between his son Hunter and other family members that could splash on the president.

But then there is his chief foe, former President Donald Trump, who is facing possible indictment on allegations of hush money payments to a porn actress.

In their grades, our reviewers this week showed divided perspectives. Conservative analyst Jed Babbin focused on the president’s woes, including son Hunter’s financial dealings, and graded the week a D-minus.

Pollster John Zogby focused on four polls favorable to Biden and played up the problems Trump faces in grading the week a B.

Jed Babbin
Grade: D-

President Joe Biden can’t have enjoyed last week. Among the headlines — another Fed interest rate hike, persistent high inflation, a fall in home prices, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s defiant trip to occupied Mariupol — was the tightening noose of facts surrounding Biden family corruption.

The Fed’s interest boost — the ninth since March 2022 — was another attempt to control inflation, and it likely won’t have more effect than the previous eight. What it will do is increase the banking crisis. While Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell insisted that the banking sector is just peachy, more and more banks are failing and being propped up by others. Biden’s bailout of Silicon Valley Bank is no more legal than his student loan bailout.

Former President Donald Trump dominated the news, his possible New York prosecution seemingly hung up over a lack of facts and lying witnesses to support it. That won’t be a problem when prosecutors finally get around to charging Biden’s son, Hunter, with influence peddling. “Suspicious Activity Reports” filed by several U.S. banks and emails reportedly written by Biden while he was vice president are gradually being published. The president is in it up to his neck. As John Adams said during the trial of the British soldiers who perpetrated the Boston Massacre, facts are stubborn things. They won’t go away no matter how hard you try to wish them away. Biden can insist forever that he knows nothing about Hunter’s business deals, but the facts clearly show that he did.

John Zogby
Grade: B

China and Russia signed a deal moving closer to both an economic and military alliance. The president of the United States ordered a bombing retaliation against Iran in Syria for a bold attack that killed an American serviceman and several contractors. The Fed announced another increase in interest rates.

But the talk, as always, was about Donald Trump. Trump appears to be coming apart at the seams as he faces a very possible indictment in New York, a new and damning witness against him in Washington, and potential indictment in Georgia.

He made a statement via his own social media platform Truth Social that there will be “death and destruction” if he is charged in New York with a photo of him holding a baseball bat near the prosecutor. Taking matters from worse to worst, all of this occurred as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg received an envelope with a white powder substance and a note threatening his life.

Also this week, Trump’s main opponent for the GOP nomination in 2024, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, referred to the Russian attack against Ukraine as a “border dispute,” which caused him to be rebuked by fellow Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. DeSantis’ polling numbers are sinking like a rock, and even his own donors are questioning whether he is really ready for a presidential campaign. This follows what appeared to be a disastrous trip to Iowa where he refused to meet with voters, walk into diners, or talk up local activists. In a state where voters expect to meet candidates five times, this did not play well.

With enemies like those, Biden does not need close friends. The so-called gaffe machine has found opponents who just keep their gaffe motors running. And four approval polls released this week showed him at 46%.

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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 Twitter @jedbabbin

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies