Joe Biden may be the president in name, but with the White House directly contradicting his proclamations twice in as many days and his notable absence from greeting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, one has to ask: Who is actually running the country?
With
border crossings at their highest in 15 years and record numbers of child migrants flooding overcrowded facilities, it is abundantly clear that the country faces a crisis, and at last, Biden conceded as such. During a weekend round of golf, he defended delaying an increase in refugees accepted to the country because his administration had to deal with "the crisis that ended up on the border with young people."
But by Monday, the White House inexplicably said that the stated position of the president wasn't the position of the presidency.
"No, there is no change in position," an unnamed White House official
told CNN. "Children coming to our border seeking refuge from violence, economic hardships, and other dire circumstances is not a crisis." Instead, the official claimed Biden "was referring to the crisis in Central America — the dire circumstances so many are fleeing from. He was not referring to the federal government's response."
Really? When Biden explicitly said, "The crisis
that ended up on the border"?
Then, on Tuesday, Biden spilled a little extra gasoline over the tinderbox that is the Twin Cities metro area, telling the press that he is praying for "the right verdict" in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the cop charged with the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd. Sure, Biden may be right that the evidence against Chauvin is "overwhelming," at least with regard to the manslaughter and third-degree murder charges, but the judge had already warned that the threats of Rep. Maxine Waters of California could constitute grounds for a mistrial. The highest elected official in the nation weighing in on a jury currently deliberating charges doesn't just raise the temperature of a city ready to riot but also threatens the integrity of the legal proceedings.
Just hours later, the White House again contradicted the boss.
"I don't think he would see it as weighing in on the verdict," White House press secretary
Jen Psaki said of Biden's remarks. Really, him asking for the "right" verdict isn't tantamount to him weighing in on the verdict?
All the while, Vice President
Kamala Harris, the person Biden claimed to have put in charge of the border crisis, is everywhere but on the border. While Biden is in hiding, Harris has been gallivanting across the country, even greeting Suga in his place.
Biden may be the president, but clearly, the buck does not stop with him. So, who is actually running the country in his stead?