TheMediaLine
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO CHANGE THE MISINFORMATION
about the
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR?
Is the Biden Administration Regaining Its Popularity?
US President Joe Biden smiles after signing S. 3373, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 into law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 10, 2022. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Is the Biden Administration Regaining Its Popularity?

Al-Ittihad, UAE, August 12

In April 2019, former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden announced his intention to run for US president in 2020, in the hope of defeating outgoing President Donald Trump. Although the fame he earned following decades of public service made Biden a natural candidate to lead the 2019 Democratic primaries, his performance at rallies was disappointing. He was badly defeated in the all-important February 2020 New Hampshire primary by three stronger candidates. At that point, Biden was given a small chance of winning the nomination. But then came the South Carolina primary on February 29, in which he won a landslide victory thanks to the huge support he received from Black Americans, including his close friend, Representative James Clyburn. Biden’s victory in the November elections was decisive; he received more than 81 million votes nationally, the highest number in American history. The first days of the Biden presidency were marked by a sense of relief. Trump, despite his efforts to overturn the election results, retreated to his Florida residence. And the effectiveness of the new COVID-19 vaccines finally reduced the number of Americans infected with the virus. Much of the Western world greeted Biden and his team with joy, especially America’s close allies in Europe and Asia. Moreover, the US economy was showing signs of recovery and growth. However, by the summer of 2021, new events began to weaken Biden’s popularity both at home and abroad. The newly emergent Delta variant began to have a significant impact on the American public, which became fed up with social distancing and masking requirements. Then, in August 2021, Biden suddenly announced the imminent withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan, against the recommendation of the Army and without consultations with the rest of the NATO allies deployed in the region. The withdrawal was marked by immense chaos, but it was an effective strategy to remove American forces from the country, following a 20-year war. Biden, however, was harshly criticized for abandoning loyal Afghans who had worked with NATO and the United States. He was also unable to prevent the Taliban from taking over despite the promises they made to the Americans at the Doha peace negotiations in February 2022. Even more alarming for Biden was the imminent inflation, which reached historic levels and brought US gas prices to an all-time high. Americans began to lose faith in the economy, and Biden’s numbers in opinion polls fell even below those of Trump. By the early days of the summer of 2022, Biden was described as a one-term president, and calls for him to be satisfied with only one term began to increase within the Democratic Party. But then, within a few weeks, the bad news started to change. Thanks to a number of positive events, Biden managed to revive his much-criticized administration. Economic data showed surprisingly strong growth with record-low levels of unemployment. Inflation also started to decline, as gasoline prices began to fall. On July 30, the CIA killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the architect of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, at his residence in Kabul, without causing any collateral casualties. Most importantly, the Democrats are on the verge of passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which will allocate nearly $700 billion to combat climate change, reduce drug costs, and raise corporate taxes. Democrats hope that this good news will finally have an impact on voters ahead of the November midterm elections. Yet, expectations are still that Republicans could win enough seats to assert control over the House of Representatives, but perhaps not enough to achieve the big landslide victory they had hoped for. Therefore, the Democrats now hope to maintain control over the Senate; an outcome that would certainly be considered positive. — Geoffrey Kemp (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)

TheMediaLine
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO CHANGE THE MISINFORMATION
about the
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR?
Personalize Your News
Upgrade your experience by choosing the categories that matter most to you.
Click on the icon to add the category to your Personalize news
Browse Categories and Topics