President Joe Biden finished his first year in office on an “epic losing streak” characterized by his strained relationship with “Republicans, moderate Democrats, and liberal Democrats — all at once,” Axios reported Friday.
“But that’s where Biden finds himself at the start of an election year that many Democrats believe will result in the loss of the House and maybe the Senate,” the report surmised.
Biden will have been president officially for one year next Thursday and has “never been less popular nationally” after advocating for voting rights and his Build Back Better agenda “and failing,” Axios wrote, referencing Biden’s recent dismal approval rating of 33 percent.
Black activists and even the far-left New York Times have criticized the president for “dillydallying” on scrapping the filibuster in order to federalize elections — or what the left calls “voting rights.” Reportedly, some members of civil-rights groups even declined to attend Biden’s voting speech in Atlanta, Axios calling the incident an example of “rising anger” from the far-left wing of Biden’s party.
As far as foreign policy, Axios slammed Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, saying it went “as poorly as it could have.” The outlet also honed in on Russia’s flippant attitude toward Biden, and Vladmir Putin’s focus on a “Ukraine invasion.” Despite Russia’s behavior, Democrats used the Senate filibuster (the same one they are trying to eliminate) to block a bill by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday that would have sanctioned companies associated with Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The outlet further pointed to the U.S. economy under Biden, acknowledging rampant inflation and supply chain issues.
“Inflation is soaring: It’s the worst in 39 years,” according to the report. “Empty grocery shelves get network-news coverage. It’s partly the weather, partly COVID, partly the supply chain — but makes a handy visual shorthand for national pessimism.”
On top of those failures, the Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Biden’s biggest federal vaccine mandate, meaning 84 million Americans working for businesses with 100-plus employees will not be mandated to get jabbed. His overall coronavirus response is also losing popularity as the omicron variant infects both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, though seemingly at varying rates and severity.
“The bottom line: Build Back Better was supposed to be Biden’s FDR moment. Voting rights could have been his LBJ moment. Instead, he’s likely to end Year 1 with neither,” the report concluded.