When Joe Biden took over the presidency, our economy was already growing at a strong pace and COVID-19 cases were steadily dropping. Thanks to Operation Warp Speed, life-saving vaccines were becoming widely available. For the first time in almost a year, there was a sense of hope in the country that a return to normalcy was around the corner. The tools needed for a full recovery from the pandemic were there – all Joe Biden had to do was execute.
At the outset of his presidency, most Americans were giving Joe Biden high marks. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in January 2021, showed that 55% of Americans approved of the job President Biden was doing. Seven months later, Joe Biden’s presidency is becoming overwhelmed by a fourth COVID wave, a surge in inflation, a foreign policy disaster in Afghanistan and a crisis at the southern border.
Despite inheriting vaccines and falling case numbers, Joe Biden has failed to control the spread of COVID-19. The C.D.C. has given conflicting and confusing messages to the public, and the American people are growing frustrated as mask mandates and other restrictions are being reinstated in many cities and states.
The cost of living has also drastically increased under Biden, putting a financial squeeze on middle-income and working families. President Biden rammed through a reckless $1.9 trillion spending bill that has contributed to skyrocketing inflation and has kept workers on the sidelines. Now, Biden, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi are attempting to pass a budget reconciliation plan that will cost American taxpayers $3.5 trillion. This level of spending is unsustainable and will be accompanied by the largest tax increase since 1968. The Biden tax-and-spend agenda threatens to slam the brakes on the economic recovery, and it will be small businesses and working families who end up footing the bill through higher prices, lower wages and lost jobs.
Our southern border is also in crisis as Biden’s liberal policies have spurred an alarming increase in the number of illegal immigrants attempting to enter our country. In July alone, 210,000 migrants attempted to come into the United States illegally. For context, that’s the highest number on record since the year 2000. This spike in illegal border crossings is creating a humanitarian catastrophe. The journey to the southern border is anything but safe, especially for children. Many kids are smuggled across the border by criminals and are trafficked or abused along the way.
The most fundamental role of the government is to protect its people at home and abroad. President Biden has failed miserably on this front. Earlier this summer, Biden prematurely pulled our troops out of Afghanistan, leading to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, stranding hundreds of Americans and resulting in the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers. Tragically, August 26th, 2021, was the deadliest day for the United States in Afghanistan in ten years.
For the past two decades, brave American men and women have put their lives on the line in Afghanistan to protect our homeland from another terrorist attack. With one imprudent decision, President Biden has squandered their sacrifice and created the opportunity for jihadists to establish a terrorist safe haven in Afghanistan.
It’s clear that the failures of the Biden administration are not lost on the American people. A recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll had Biden with a 41% approval rating and a 55% disapproval rating. In Rasmussen’s daily tracking report, Biden has consistently been under 50% since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.
Joe Biden’s sagging poll numbers are a major red flag for congressional Democrats. A president typically suffers significant congressional losses during his first midterm election. With Biden’s failures piling up, Republicans are in a strong position to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 and have a fighting chance of taking back the U.S. Senate.
At FP1, we look forward to working with our talented candidates to hold Joe Biden and congressional Democrats accountable for their liberal policies that are threatening America’s economic and national security.