I’m very appreciative of that — I was surprised to hear it. I think it was a terrific thing, and I think it makes a lot of people happy. I think he did something very good. When we came up with these incredible vaccines – three of them – and therapeutics, we did a tremendous job, and we should never disparage them. You know, it has to be a process of healing in this country, and that will help a lot.
Donald Trump (after Joe Biden’s complement)
That’s right! I wrote that headline, because Joe Biden just did the most presidential thing he’s done since entering office (he promised to heal “division” and restore “normalcy”). I spent a career moving skeptical employees and hesitant customers to “yes,” eating a lot of humble pie in the process – and it did NOT kill me!
LBJ wasn’t fond of JFK in 1963, but he gave the late president the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ford gave the medal to LBJ’s widow in 1977. Carter the dove awarded LBJ the hawk in 1980. Reagan awarded Eunice KENNEDY Shriver, Bush One gave it to Tip O’Neill, Clinton to Gerald Ford, Bush Two to Donna Shalala, Obama to Bush One, and Trump to Alan Page. The Medal of Freedom is, above all, a symbolic gesture of appreciation.
I think we all knew the Biden presidency was in trouble when they made an absurd claim the press had gone easier on the Trump administration. No way, because the legacy media never questioned executive orders that likely created the border crisis, increased the price of gasoline, and politicized the pandemic. The press was, in fact, forced to do its job by a ham-handed president: his media allies were embarrassed into confirming what voters already knew.
In March, Biden’s approval rating was 59%, but after the Delta variant…and the Afghanistan withdrawal…and rising prices…and on-camera senility moments…his approval is now only 36% (source: Quinnipiac). A chief executive eventually sees what’s not working, like demonizing one’s predecessor. Biden’s reality is he’s still sinking in the polls, the GOP reclaimed Virginia, and Manchin said “No!” to Build Back Better. Maybe try an olive branch.
When Biden said, “Thanks to the prior administration…America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” it was a small step for a president and giant leap for his presidency, because independent voters put him in the Oval Office, and they’ve left him for dead.
Trump accepted the complement with magnanimity, saying “yes!” when asked, “Did you get the booster?” Hearing “boos” in the audience, he said, “Don’t, don’t, don’t,” to his supporters. Get it? After being falsely accused of treason and abuse of office, he was nice back to Biden. And, if Biden is politically astute, he will run to bipartisan daylight, and away from the far-left darkness of Bernie Sanders and The Squad, who just “beat the crap” out of Joe Manchin.
Because, right now Biden needs to disrupt the cadence of division by wheeling to the middle, and that means toward 74,000,000 Trump voters. Give Trump the Medal of Freedom for Operation Warp Speed and own the news week. CNN and MSNBC will extol Biden’s statesmanship, and Trump will talk up the honor on Fox. The hard-left (Ilhan Omar) will spew mean things and look uncharitable. The political middle that elected Mr. Biden will say, “oh, there you are!”
Hey, it could happen…maybe not in time for Christmas. But what a great New Year resolution to change the trajectory of his presidency. You can do this, Joe!