Our Weekly White House Report Card finds President Trump entering his last month in office, with plans for a 2024 comeback.
Our graders, Democratic pollster John Zogby and conservative analyst Jed Babbin, both graded the week a “D,” noting that the Electoral College and GOP leaders have agreed that Trump lost to Joe Biden.
John Zogby
Grade D-
President Trump won a major victory in the Supreme Court over the issue of counting illegal immigrants in the census, and this week, the first of the COVID-19 vaccines was rolled out just as a second one was approved.
But there are problems with the rollout as some states did not receive their share and others did not get the shipments on time.
Republican leaders finally recognized that Trump lost the election to Biden. At the same time, major U.S. companies and local government agencies were the victims of a Russian hack that amounts to a huge act of espionage. But where was the president? He continues to smart over his loss and to make plans for disruption of the Biden administration and a comeback run in 2024. And Congress still cannot come up with an emergency relief package for millions of struggling people.
I have noted in the past that the president has at times tried to compete with James Buchanan as the worst president in U.S. history. But there is one important difference: Buchanan knew it and wanted to leave the office. Trump does not.
Jed Babbin
Grade D
Trump didn’t have a good week, but the Constitution, which is more important than any president, prevailed.
Meeting separately in their various states to avoid COVID-19 complications, the Electoral College majority voted for Biden, constitutionally entitling him as president-elect.
Attorney General William Barr tendered his resignation effective before Christmas. The resignation probably was the result of Trump’s evident displeasure with Barr and the short time before the Biden team will take over. A poor jobs report reflected a new surge in unemployment, probably due to increased economic shutdowns in many states. A massive cyberattack (probably emanating from Russia) enabled by malware embedded in government-approved software affected virtually all government agencies, and a Russian anti-satellite weapons test succeeded in a direct challenge to the United States — which is almost totally dependent on satellites for every military and national security function. Meanwhile, China’s “scrape and scoot” unmanned moon mission successfully returned a bunch of moon rocks to earth. The last U.S. moon mission, Apollo 17, was in 1972.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby
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
