It has long been believed that Joe Biden is more of a figurehead than an actual president making decisions. He was chosen by Democrats in 2020 over his perceived electability, with many expecting that he wouldn’t serve a full term, let alone pursue a second term.
He’s done very little to assuage these concerns. He’s made the occasional quip, implying that he does what he’s told to do, and the White House is constantly cleaning up messes he makes by saying things that are either patently absurd or indicating a fictional change in policy. Last year, for example, he appeared to call for regime change in Russia during a speech about the invasion of Ukraine. The White House scrambled to walk back the statement before the media could report it.
According to a recently published book, he feels like he’s being treated like a toddler. Frankly, that sounds about right.
The White House frequently makes a point to emphasize, re-emphasize, and re-emphasize again, for good measure, just how involved Joe Biden is with what’s happening in administration and in the decision-making process. Like the frequent attempts to portray Biden as a vigorous workhorse that staffers can’t keep up with, these repetitive proclamations of Biden’s consequential role in the administration reek of overcompensation, and I would be willing to bet that it won’t take too long after Biden’s exit from the White House for anonymous former Biden officials to reveal just how little decision-making Biden was really involved with and the real reason why he's spent 40% of his presidency on vacation.
Related: This Might Be the Most Hilarious Meme About Joe Biden Ever
Recent events have done little to shed the impression that Biden is just a puppet.
The secret hospitalization of Lloyd Austin proved that despite the ongoing war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, Joe Biden isn’t regularly communicating with his own Defense Secretary. Biden didn’t know he was hospitalized for four days, and it’s anyone’s guess as to how long it actually had been since he’d spoken with him before that.
This is not normal, and there’s little reason to believe any explanation or excuse from the White House.
Despite this scandal, Biden seems to continue to dig himself deeper into the hole.
With the United States launching a new round of attacks on the Houthis, the White House is certainly relishing the opportunity to have an international conflict to give the impression that Biden is in charge.
And yet, he managed to screw that up.
During a visit to Pennsylvania this week, Biden was asked a rather significant question.
“Are you willing to call the Houthis a terrorist group, sir?” a journalist asked him.
“I think they are,” Biden responded.
It was a rather noncommittal response, as if he didn't want to make any official declaration without first clearing it with someone else. But later, he was asked about that response.
“A few minutes ago at the coffee shop, you said you think the Houthis are a terrorist group. I’m wondering, how soon are you willing to designate them as such?”
“It’s irrelevant whether we designate them,” Biden said.
Irrelevant? To the contrary, the State Department explains that designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) plays a "critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business." Such groups face significant restrictions worldwide, and it becomes illegal to aid and abet them. It almost means that any domestic assets the group has are frozen, and the designation prevents anyone affiliated with those groups from being able to enter the United States.
It's a big deal, not irrelevant at all. Not only did Biden refuse to say definitively whether the Houthis are a terrorist organization, he also downplayed the significance of the designation. With U.S. forces launching strikes against them, one might expect a more definitive and confident response from Biden and a bit greater understanding of the implication of being designated as a terrorist group.
In other words, he's not making the decisions; he's just an irrelevant figurehead who, after so many messes in the past, is being kept on a much tighter leash because of the upcoming election.
