Instead of getting a return to normalcy, a sense of order and competence, Americans are getting ... this.
It seems like every other day, there’s a member of the Biden administration putting their foot in their mouth.
Most recently, first lady Jill Biden reduced Hispanics to tacos. On Monday, Jill Biden was speaking at a gathering put on by UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza) in San Antonio when she said, “[The] diversity of this community, as distinct as the ‘bogedas’ (editor’s note: she meant bodegas) of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength.”
The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists on Twitter: “NAHJ encourages @FLOTUS & her communications team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities. We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions. Do not reduce us to stereotypes.”
I will just say here that I’m personally less bothered by Jill Biden saying some goofy line than I am that on the same day her husband refused to extend Temporary Protected Status to 250,000 Venezuelans currently in the U.S. who fled communist tyranny. The latter is the Biden administration’s latest betrayal of the Venezuelan people and immigrants generally; the former is sort of goofy, out-of-touch gibberish I expect from a White liberal in her 70s by default.
Both are part of the larger failure of the Biden administration to really connect with Hispanics, which, news flash, is a large and growing segment of the electorate. In May, a Quinnipiac poll found that just 26% of Hispanics approved of Biden, down from 55% a year before. Jill’s slip-up will fade, but Biden’s perpetual incompetence probably won’t.
Which brings me to Joe’s slip-up. End of quote. Repeat the line.
Yes, by now you’ve probably seen and heard it countless times. On Friday, the leader of the most powerful nation in human history, a nation with enough nukes to destroy all life many times over, said at a press conference, “It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so — end of quote, repeat the line. Women are not without electoral and, or, political — let me be precise: not and, or — or political power.”
As bad as that is, the video is a lot worse. Biden not only comes across as poorly reading a teleprompter, but as an uncomfortably old man. Not exactly confidence building. On Monday, a New York Times/Siena College poll found that 64% of Democrats would prefer someone other than Biden to be their party’s presidential candidate in 2024, with many citing Biden’s age as a major reason.
One person who doesn’t have the age problem is Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, who also fumbled her words in a CBS interview this past Friday.
Asked if past Democratic leaders made a mistake in not codifying Roe v. Wade into law, Harris responded, “I think that, to be very honest with you, I do believe that we should have rightly believed what we certainly believe that certain issues are just settled.”
Broti Gupta, a writer for “The Simpsons” (I didn’t even know it was still going), had the best response to Kamala’s communications skills, tweeting, “Kamala Harris talks like she has a translator earpiece on and it has water damage.” Naturally, for daring to make a joke, Gupta drew the outrage of the buffoonish KHive, online supporters of Kamala Harris.
But most Americans aren’t in the KHive and most can barely tolerate Harris. Harris, for reference, is currently less popular than the last four vice presidents and her approval rating has been as low as 28%. That she’s an ineffective communicator is obvious to anyone with ears.
So, obviously, the Biden White House isn’t having a great week.
In the grand scheme of things, does this matter? It’s true Biden if anything has always been known for his gaffes. Harris’s rise in California and national politics wasn’t a function of her being a particularly great communicator, either. And yet, it worked for them in 2020.
But it’s hard to ignore that the Biden administration consistently comes across as incompetent as soon as the figureheads start talking. The fact that Donald Trump, flaws and all, continues to poll competitively with both Biden and Harris in hypothetical 2024 matchups just goes to show that the Biden administration has dropped the ball.
Instead of getting a return to normalcy, a sense of order and competence, Americans are getting … this.
Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com
