US President Joe Biden is expected to leave behind a “sad legacy” marked by his failure to unite the country and address various economic and foreign policy challenges, according to an editorial in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
"Democrats would consider it a triumph if [Vice President Kamala] Harris could win. But either she or [Republican US presidential candidate Donald] Trump will inherit a more divided and dispirited country than Biden did [in 2021]. This is the sad legacy of the Biden presidency," the editorial states.
The article criticizes Biden's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which it claims led to record inflation of 9.1% in June 2022 and a decline in the real income of American citizens. The authors also express bewilderment at Biden's inability to effectively address the migration crisis, calling it a “mystery of his presidential term.” They argue that the results of his foreign policy efforts will not be fully known until the outcomes of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are clear. However, they contend that his “inglorious” withdrawal from Afghanistan has already become a symbol of national weakness and has emboldened US rivals.
The editorial further accuses Biden of having a personal interest in prosecuting former President Donald Trump, which, in their view, has only turned Trump into a “martyr in the eyes of Republicans” and helped him secure the position of presidential candidate. The WSJ editors suggest that Biden's “selfish desire” to seek a second term has deprived US citizens of the opportunity to consider “younger presidential candidates who might be better able to deal with the country's foreign and domestic problems.”
“This is the fate of a president whose work most Americans regard as a failure and who was doomed to defeat in a new fight with Donald Trump. It is a sad departure from the presidency. Things could have been much better if he had followed through on his campaign promise to unite the country and move away from the 'Trump era,' ” the WSJ editors conclude.
The US presidential election is scheduled for November 5. Initially, the Democratic Party was expected to be represented by President Joe Biden, but after his underwhelming performance in a June debate with Trump, calls for him to drop out of the race have intensified among Democrats. On July 21, Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the nation's highest office.
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Based on materials from TASS