How Biden Can Build Back Better Democratic Support
After months of damaging internal bickering, the president needs to unite his party behind more realistic legislative goals and refocus voters' attention on the GOP's failings.
A rough start to 2022.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP
The start of 2022 has offered the American people three distinct views of President Joe Biden. To say he's been all over the map would be charitable. Wednesday’s marathon news conference alone fit that description even without his previous two speeches — a tough, but edifying address on Jan. 6 to commemorate the U.S. Capitol insurrection, and the far more uncharitable and partisan one Jan. 11 in Atlanta about voting rights.
Immediately following the news conference he had to clean up his misstep suggesting that Russian aggression in Ukraine might amount to only a "minor incursion” that NATO might not challenge. And he was blasted for hypocrisy for insinuating that this year's elections might be considered “illegitimate” because of the Democrats’ inability to pass their voting rights bills — a jarring statement considering how Democrats have correctly slammed Donald Trump-loyal Republicans for denying the validity of the 2020 election and inspiring the Jan. 6 riot.