Joe Biden’s Sunday announcement that he is withdrawing his re-election bid took many by surprise. With less than four months until the election and half a year until the end of his term, can the legacy of Biden as president be assessed?
To answer this and other questions, TVP World invited Col. (ret.) Ray Wojcik, former military attache at the U.S. embassy in Warsaw, to give an exclusive interview summarizing key aspects of Biden’s domestic and foreign policy.
Following Biden’s underwhelming performance during a debate against Donald Trump earlier this month, many — party supporters, party brass, and political commentators — have called for the President to step down from the race. His Sunday resignation nonetheless came as a surprise to many.
“I think the timing may have shocked some people because some people thought, actually, this would have happened weeks or even months ago,” Wojcik said. “Or that it might run on at least until the convention, which is in about a month, a Democratic convention where the whole party comes together.”
Following Biden’s underwhelming performance during a debate against Donald Trump earlier this month, many — party supporters, party brass, and political commentators — have called for the President to step down from the race. His Sunday resignation nonetheless came as a surprise to many.
“I think the timing may have shocked some people because some people thought, actually, this would have happened weeks or even months ago,” Wojcik said. “Or that it might run on at least until the convention, which is in about a month, a Democratic convention where the whole party comes together.”
But, he added: “even though there was a growing chorus of Democratic leaders that were quietly and some not so quietly urging President Biden to depart the race, there were many journalists talking [...] that probably this weekend something could dramatically change.
“And it certainly did,” Wojcik said.
Aside from the obvious issue of differing partisan perspectives, assessing Biden’s tenure as president will not be an easy task since, as Wojcik pointed out, prior to being President, Biden also served two terms as Vice President under Obama, making for a total of 12 years in the White House.
One of the issues that can be assessed controversially would be the way Biden’s administration tried to handle the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico.
Republicans have accused Biden of being the one who caused the crisis, but as Wojcik said: “he basically took the [border security] apparatus that Trump had put in place that was very patchwork and ad hoc, with a lot of executive orders and then a [border] wall starting.
“And he had a philosophy that this was not right on a humanitarian basis and that he wanted to upend everything that was set up, but in such a pendulum way of an opposite of all those policies,” Wojcik said.
But these efforts, he added, have ultimately failed to resolve the issue and, to the surprise of many, made a topic that would have normally been seen as important, but perhaps not the most important, a number-one issue over the past several months. As a result “both sides of the aisle” have now struggled to come up with a way to secure the border.
When it comes to other domestic issues, such as the economy, unemployment has gone down, and inflation is also beginning to come down. Nevertheless, in spite of the macro indicators improving, “the real value of the dollar has dropped for the average house.”
This, much more than macro indicators, will affect how people assess the economic situation of the country.
As Wojcik said: “So that’s a challenge because when people vote, it’s not just necessarily what some economist is telling them, ‘hey, everything looks better,’ but when they look at their bank account, that’s something they think about.”
In terms of foreign policy, Wojcik said he thinks that Biden’s administration “is doing a good job in trying to shore up new alliances or reinvigorating some alliances with Australia, South Korea, Japan [...] but at the same time, China is ever more aggressive in the South China Sea, especially recently against the Philippines.”
“And it certainly did,” Wojcik said.
Aside from the obvious issue of differing partisan perspectives, assessing Biden’s tenure as president will not be an easy task since, as Wojcik pointed out, prior to being President, Biden also served two terms as Vice President under Obama, making for a total of 12 years in the White House.
One of the issues that can be assessed controversially would be the way Biden’s administration tried to handle the immigration crisis on the border with Mexico.
Republicans have accused Biden of being the one who caused the crisis, but as Wojcik said: “he basically took the [border security] apparatus that Trump had put in place that was very patchwork and ad hoc, with a lot of executive orders and then a [border] wall starting.
“And he had a philosophy that this was not right on a humanitarian basis and that he wanted to upend everything that was set up, but in such a pendulum way of an opposite of all those policies,” Wojcik said.
But these efforts, he added, have ultimately failed to resolve the issue and, to the surprise of many, made a topic that would have normally been seen as important, but perhaps not the most important, a number-one issue over the past several months. As a result “both sides of the aisle” have now struggled to come up with a way to secure the border.
When it comes to other domestic issues, such as the economy, unemployment has gone down, and inflation is also beginning to come down. Nevertheless, in spite of the macro indicators improving, “the real value of the dollar has dropped for the average house.”
This, much more than macro indicators, will affect how people assess the economic situation of the country.
As Wojcik said: “So that’s a challenge because when people vote, it’s not just necessarily what some economist is telling them, ‘hey, everything looks better,’ but when they look at their bank account, that’s something they think about.”
Foreign policy: a mixed bag
In terms of foreign policy, Wojcik said he thinks that Biden’s administration “is doing a good job in trying to shore up new alliances or reinvigorating some alliances with Australia, South Korea, Japan [...] but at the same time, China is ever more aggressive in the South China Sea, especially recently against the Philippines.”
Be that as it may, Wojcik said that “a number one security challenge for the United States, which fuels the debate between the left and right in the United States [is] about Europe,” and, as he added, many believe the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan was the final straw that convinced Putin to go ahead with his plans of invading Ukraine, a move he likely had in preparation much earlier.
“Because clearly he was probably planning that for some time. You know, I don’t think he just said: ‘Look at Afghanistan. Let’s start the plan’,” Wojcik added.
Wojcik pointed to some policies of Biden’s administration that he believes to have had a positive outcome. One example would be how Biden has “been able to maintain strong unity across the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine.”
What is an issue, however, and one that is also visible in how the White House deals with the Hamas-Israeli war, is “using what we call the ‘5,000-mile screwdriver’ to try to tell Netanyahu or the Israelis how to prosecute the war. And the same thing in Ukraine.”
“Because clearly he was probably planning that for some time. You know, I don’t think he just said: ‘Look at Afghanistan. Let’s start the plan’,” Wojcik added.
Wojcik pointed to some policies of Biden’s administration that he believes to have had a positive outcome. One example would be how Biden has “been able to maintain strong unity across the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine.”
What is an issue, however, and one that is also visible in how the White House deals with the Hamas-Israeli war, is “using what we call the ‘5,000-mile screwdriver’ to try to tell Netanyahu or the Israelis how to prosecute the war. And the same thing in Ukraine.”
Wojcik disagrees with this approach, and when referring to Ukraine, as an example he provides “these weapons’ limitations.”
As he said: “When they [Ukrainians] do finally get these more sophisticated weapons from us, we’re also telling them: ‘Well, don’t fire across the border [into Russia].’”
The exact reasoning for making sense of such an approach is not clear to Wojcik, who said that while Biden has been vocally and strongly supportive of Ukraine, his rhetoric was “not strong enough to send the message to Russia.”
“What we’ve been doing with these nuanced, slow transfer of weapons and then these weapons limitations is sent the wrong signals,” Wojcik said, adding that while the possibility of nuclear escalation should not be taken lightly, the West cannot “withdraw our retrograde” its support for Ukraine “every time Putin rattles the saber.”
As he said: “When they [Ukrainians] do finally get these more sophisticated weapons from us, we’re also telling them: ‘Well, don’t fire across the border [into Russia].’”
The exact reasoning for making sense of such an approach is not clear to Wojcik, who said that while Biden has been vocally and strongly supportive of Ukraine, his rhetoric was “not strong enough to send the message to Russia.”
“What we’ve been doing with these nuanced, slow transfer of weapons and then these weapons limitations is sent the wrong signals,” Wojcik said, adding that while the possibility of nuclear escalation should not be taken lightly, the West cannot “withdraw our retrograde” its support for Ukraine “every time Putin rattles the saber.”
What now?
The final matter is how the November elections will look now. Biden has endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris, but as Wojcik pointed out “Actually, it wasn’t immediate. So that already puts some doubt in there. How much does he support her?”
The Democrats will now have to scramble to decide who will be their candidate by the Democratic National Convention which comes in just under a month. But with the 81-year-old Biden out of the race, whoever will replace him will have at least one trump card against the Republican candidate. His own age of 78.
“They will turn the tables on Trump and say: ‘Hey, look at that old guy’,” Wojcik said.
But that alone will not be enough, as the Republicans are on the upswing following their successful convention in Milwaukee and the failed Trump assassination attempt that shortly preceded it, which “gives them a little bit more of a sympathetic view by some.”
“So the Democrats, if they somehow turn this around and can still win that election, it will be nothing short of spectacular,” Wojcik said.
The Interview with Col. Ray Wójcik aired on TVP World’s How We Got Here on July 22. Watch the full interview at the top of the page.
The Democrats will now have to scramble to decide who will be their candidate by the Democratic National Convention which comes in just under a month. But with the 81-year-old Biden out of the race, whoever will replace him will have at least one trump card against the Republican candidate. His own age of 78.
“They will turn the tables on Trump and say: ‘Hey, look at that old guy’,” Wojcik said.
But that alone will not be enough, as the Republicans are on the upswing following their successful convention in Milwaukee and the failed Trump assassination attempt that shortly preceded it, which “gives them a little bit more of a sympathetic view by some.”
“So the Democrats, if they somehow turn this around and can still win that election, it will be nothing short of spectacular,” Wojcik said.
The Interview with Col. Ray Wójcik aired on TVP World’s How We Got Here on July 22. Watch the full interview at the top of the page.
Source: TVP World
More In Politics MORE...
