PNN – In an article referring to the final days of Joe Biden’s administration, Newsweek magazine listed the six biggest mistakes of the US president, which the author believes have tarnished his legacy.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, in emails sent to Newsweek, several experts discussed the last days of Biden’s administration and the mistakes that tarnished the legacy of the US president.
This publication reported: Biden entered the White House in January 2021 promising a strong confrontation with what he called the chaotic administration of Donald Trump. But now there is a danger that he will be remembered more for the actions that paved the way for Trump’s return to power.
According to the Gallup survey that was conducted from December 2 to 18 among 1,330 American adults and the results were published on January 7 54% of the participants believe that Biden is known as a below-average president, and 17% rated him as weak. Newsweek then noted that Biden’s presidency has come with criticism, including concerns about border security, the state of the economy and his decision to run for re-election in 2024. However, on the other hand, Biden and his supporters, rejecting these criticisms, boast of key achievements such as the approval of the law to reduce inflation and the improvement of the country’s economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Newsweek continues to point out Biden’s first big mistake, which, from the author’s point of view, has tarnished his legacy;
- Re-nomination for election
Newsweek has argued in this regard: Biden’s decision to run again despite concerns about his age and mental abilities, regardless of his low popularity in polls and voter enthusiasm, could have left a lot of regret for the Democrats. However, he finally announced his decision to withdraw from the election and Vice President Kamala Harris, who had only 100 days to announce his successor as the party’s candidate, entered the election arena.
Christopher Burick, director of the Mullenberg College Institute for Public Thought, told Newsweek that if Biden announced his decision to step down in early to mid-2023, it would be a “harbinger of statesmanship and self-sacrifice.”
- Biden’s performance in the debate
Long-standing concerns about Biden’s physical and mental fitness intensified after his poor performance against Trump in the June 2024 debate. In this debate, he was often unable to express sentences and his tone was sometimes sharp and sometimes whispering; A situation that fueled the concerns about the health of this elderly president even more and caused the well-known figures of the Democratic Party to demand his withdrawal from the competition.
In an interview with Newsweek, Kerry Caglianese, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, pointed out that the president’s effective communication is very important, and called Biden’s performance in the said debate an “obvious mistake”.
- Leaving Afghanistan
Newsweek considered Biden’s third big and glaring mistake to be the chaotic withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in August 2021, and assessed it as a defining moment in his time in power. The results of the polls before the departure indicate that Biden’s approval rating was 50%, but after the departure from Afghanistan, this rating dropped below 50% and never improved.
Niyozek considered this to be so effective in Biden’s presidency that he described and recalled it as a turning point in his power: Republicans and Trump often cite the decision as evidence of Biden’s weakness.
- Inability to control borders
Illegal immigration on the border with Mexico is another controversial issue of the Biden administration, because he canceled several immigration policies of the Trump administration in the first days of his administration. After that, the illegal crossing of migrants from the southern border increased and set a new record in December 2023.
- Appointment of Merrick Garland
According to a report published by the Washington Post, Biden was disappointed with the performance of US Attorney General Merrick Garland because of the slowness in prosecuting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Many of his critics have questioned why Garland waited until November 2022 (for two years) to finally appoint Jack Smith as special investigator. Some also believe that this delay in decision-making ultimately led to Trump’s victory in the 2024 elections. Smith said in a report last Tuesday that if Trump’s case goes to trial, there is enough evidence to convict him of his actions in the run-up to the January 6 attack. However, due to the Justice Department’s policy regarding the impeachment law against US presidents, Trump’s conviction is no longer possible.
- Lack of clear messages
According to Newsweek, the main reason for Harris’ defeat in the election was due to voters’ dissatisfaction with the country’s economy in the Biden administration, including the high rate of inflation. Biden has faced widespread criticism for not providing a clear explanation of his administration’s achievements, particularly on inflation.
Christopher Borik also believes that the uncertain state of the borders is one of the other concerns of the American people; the issue that caused the Republicans to win in 2024 by taking a stronger position.
Former Obama strategist David Axelrod said in a podcast addressing the mistakes of the Biden administration: Biden was so desperate for approval that he felt he would only become a great president if he served two terms. It was a terrible mistake. It ends up being heavy for him, far beyond anything he could have imagined.