Media top headlines January 19
In media news today, Jennifer Rubin says President Biden ‘needs a reset,’ ESPN avoids on-air coverage of Golden State Warriors owner’s Uyghur comments, and social media lights up CNN for hiring Rex Chapman for its streaming service.
New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens suggested a few revisions to the administration’s current order as it has become bipartisan agreement that President Biden has so far floundered in the White House.
Stephens highlighted how the president should consider building a new team, including a new chief of staff, and "focus on American needs, not liberal wishes."
"No, the two are not synonymous," Stephens wrote. "Universal Pre-K might be popular. But Americans have spent the past two years suffering from the government’s inability to meet basic needs. Public health. Price stability. Safe streets. Secure borders. Functioning supply chains. Public schools that open their doors to children."
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks, as President Joe Biden looks on, in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 26, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Even though not all these concerns are the responsibility of the White House, according to Stephens, what is a concern was Biden’s decision to appoint "overmatched" Vice President Kamala Harris as border czar. He also questioned why Biden would nominate a "progressive ideologue" to the Fed as inflation spirals and formulate a package to fight rising crime just to drop it altogether.
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"The president needs to communicate that he’s a step ahead of these problems," he said. "So far he’s been a perpetual step behind."
Stephens emphasized that Biden must also remember that he ran as a moderate and a unifier, pressing that the president can redeem himself by moving legislation back to the center. This could include regulation for Big Tech or a bill trading enhanced border security for Dreamers' citizenship.
President Joe Biden listens to the speakers during the U.N. climate summit on Nov. 2, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
"Standing up to the left on an issue or two wouldn’t hurt the president, either," he said.
Stephens pointed out that Biden was elected to office as a "trusted steward of American power," yet he’s come up short as his poll numbers continue to suffer since the "national humiliation" of the Afghanistan withdrawal.
"The administration now faces two near-term foreign policy emergencies," he said. "Biden may be eager to seize on any deal he can achieve, but he needs to be careful about stumbling into a world where adversaries don’t fear us, allies don’t trust us and Americans conclude their president is weak."
President Joe Biden interacts with members of the audience during a commercial break for a CNN town hall at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, July 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Lastly, Stephens suggested, the president should announce he will not be running for re-election in 2024 for the wellness of the party.
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"It isn’t just the administration that’s been enfeebled by a year of stumbles," he said. "It’s the Democratic Party at large. Biden can still rescue his presidency. But rising above the political fray so that a younger generation of Democrats can spark enthusiasm is part of the formula for his own renewal."
Both liberals and conservatives have shared disappointment in Biden on a number of issues he pledged to address during his 2020 campaign. He promised to "shut down" COVID-19, yet more people died from the virus in 2021 than the year prior.
The administration's handling of testing, meanwhile, has been blasted by people of all political stripes. Biden promised to "massively surge a nationwide campaign and guarantee regular, reliable, and free access to testing for all." Yet over the holiday season pharmacies ran out of rapid tests and Americans stood in hours-long lines at free testing locations nationwide.
The supply chain crisis, rising inflation, and the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan have also tainted the White House the past year and are all considered likely factors in Biden's unpopularity.
Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.