OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Biden is making history, but for all of the wrong reasons.
At this point in his presidency, after 489 days, Biden is historically more unpopular than any other president since World War II.
A staggering 54.6 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden job performance, according to FiveThirtyEight’s daily polling average. Only 41 percent approve of Biden.
These are the worst numbers since World War II, according to the FiveThirtyEight formula.
Despite constant negative media coverage, President Donald Trump had a higher approval at this point in his presidency at 42.2 percent.
For further comparison, President George W. Bush had a 72 percent approval rating on day 489 of his first term.
Approval ratings were above 60 percent at this point of their presidencies for Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush.
Even Jimmy Carter and Harry Truman had approval ratings of 43.1 percent on day 489, which is still higher than Biden’s numbers.
Biden has overseen a number of catastrophic failures during his time in the White House, beginning with the devastating withdrawal of U.S. troop from Afghanistan.
During the chaos of the withdrawal and lack of security, an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 US service members at the Kabul airport. The attack killed one Navy corpsman, ten Marines, and two Army soldiers. Most of them were either 20 years old or in their early twenties. Some Americans were left stranded in the country after the withdrawal.
Through increased federal spending, inflation under Biden has skyrocketed to the highest level in four decades. Before Biden took office, gas was $2.379 per gallon on average. Under Biden and the Democrats, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the U.S. hit a record $4.596.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that each American is paying about 10 percent more for food bought at the grocery store than last year.
Biden promised to “shut down the virus,” but proceeded to oversee more COVID-19 deaths than Trump while also doing more damage to the U.S. economy and education.
Lastly, the immigration system has been fundamentally broken under Joe Biden. Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen writes that Biden “unleashed the worst border crisis in U.S. history.”
Under Trump, Americans saw the lowest rate of illegal immigration in over 40 years.
Under Biden, we have seen the highest rate of illegal immigration over 60 years.
Biden ended Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, which forced foreign nationals seeking to enter the U.S. through the southern border — illegally or without proper documentation — to be returned to Mexico. These individuals needed to wait in Mexico while their legal cases are adjudicated.
Biden, on the other hand, opened the flood gates and created a disaster. By removing this policy, it signaled that everyone can come through the border even if it’s illegally and without proper documentation. This border security program under Trump and kept migrants in Mexico as they awaited their hearings.
Biden and the Democrats falsely claimed President Trump was “racist” and “xenophobic” for his “remain in Mexico.” This was part of Trump’s effort to secure the U.S. southern border and stop the flood of illegal immigration. Trump’s key policy was called the Migrant Protection Protocols. It required migrant asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court hearings.
Under Trump, an estimated 68,000 migrants were returned to Mexico under the policy, according to the Department of Homeland Security. These individuals will need to wait in Mexico while their legal cases are adjudicated. This only impacted those attempting to enter illegally or without proper documentation.
Biden, on the other hand, allows migrant asylum seekers into the U.S. prior to court hearings, which many Republicans have opposed. The Democrat’s strategy of allowing migrants into the U.S. gives them the opportunity to disappear before their court hearings. As a result, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently confirmed that some illegal immigrants have received free cell phones so that they can be contacted and “checked on” in hopes that they don’t disappear within the U.S. before their court hearing.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 1.7 million encounters with illegal migrants at the southern border, nearly four times the number the year before, the highest annual total on record — including 378,000 who were not from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala,” the Washington Post reported.
“Seizures of deadly fentanyl more than doubled in 2021, and the drug is closely connected to a surge in overdose deaths, which reached a historic high,” the report added.
42 migrants apprehended at the U.S. southern border have known ties to terrorists and have been on the terror watch list. It’s widely suspected that many potential terrorists have successfully crossed the boarder without being apprehended.
Multiple sources have also confirmed that a Texas National Guard soldier has recently drowned while trying to rescue migrants in a river at the state’s border with Mexico. A body has been recovered, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Fox News.
