When he won the election, Biden promised to be “a president for all Americans”, in a then highly polarized United States.
ELECTION: Lahlum during TV 2’s election night broadcast during the by-elections in November. Photo: Aleksander Myklebust / TV 2
– The starting point was in many ways demanding, with a strongly polarized USA, unjustified accusations of electoral fraud and even a physical attack on the congress building, says USA expert Hans Olav Lahlum to TV 2.
Two years later, there is little sign that Biden has been able to fulfill his promise of victory, and the differences between the Democrats and the Republicans continue to increase.
STORMING: Trump supporters during the storming of Congress on January 6, 2021. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP
This week reports several American media that Biden will probably run for re-election, and that the announcement is coming after the annual “State of the Union” address on February 7. But do the voters think he has earned four more years?
Popularity plummets
Over the past two years, Biden has introduced several progressive measures, from raising the minimum wage to easing student loans.
He has also taken steps to tackle climate change, and expressed a desire to make the US a central player in the fight against global warming. Nevertheless, Biden is far less popular now than when he was sworn in two years ago.
DEADLY HOT: The world’s hottest place, Death Valley, on a summer day in 2021. Photo: John Locher / AP
– Biden has carried out significant reforms on environmental protection, but has so far not received sufficient recognition for them in public opinion, and his popularity figures remain low in a historical perspective, says Lahlum.
The numbers speak clearly: Only 40 percent of Americans think Biden is doing a good job as president. This is a decrease of 15 per cent in the last two years, and close to the bottom level of 36 per cent.
Financial help during the pandemic
If you rewind time to 20 January 2021, the USA was severely paralyzed by the corona pandemic. Both cases of infection and corona-related deaths were at a record high.
The vaccine had just been launched, but there was far more demand than supply.
MASK ON: Masks and vaccines marked Biden’s first time as president. Photo: Anna Moneymaker / AFP
To get the country to fight the pandemic, he promised to restore public trust, vaccinate the country, minimize the spread of the virus, and reopen society.
Among other things, he launched a universal check of 1,400 dollars and food aid to stem many of the financial consequences of the pandemic.
It was in stark contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, who on several occasions spread misinformation about the virus – before he himself was infected.
President in wartime
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year, Ukraine’s president asked for help from the rest of the world.
HELP: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for help when they were invaded. Photo: Ronaldo Schmidt / AFP
And early in the war, Biden made promises that the US would provide Ukraine with military aid, including air defense systems, ammunition, drones and other weapons.
– The foreign policy situation has of course become more demanding with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, says Lahlum.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West, and especially the United States, that they will regret it if they increase military support.
But as recently as Friday, the United States came with a record-breaking package of military aid to Ukraine. It was valued at $2.5 billion.
RECORD-LARGE AID: The US Secretary of Defense announced the huge aid package on Friday. Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
– I have no regrets
Although Biden has achieved a lot halfway through his presidency, he is also no stranger to scandals.
ANSWER REQUIRED: The letter from the state administrator requests all information about the document discovery. Photo: Jon Elswick/AP
Earlier in January, lawyers found classified documents in Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware.
He quickly acknowledged that the findings were real, but stated that he did not know what the documents contained.
– I don’t think they will find anything there, and I have no regrets. Now I follow what my lawyers have told me to do, said Biden on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Justice’s special investigator, six pages of classified information were found.
NO REGRETS: Biden says he has no regrets that the documents were found. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
Ex-president Donald Trump is also in the investigators’ spotlight after a number of classified documents were found on his property last year.
– Halfway through the period, the biggest triumph of Biden’s presidency is still that he managed to be elected to it and fulfilled the goal of getting rid of Donald Trump, says Lahlum.
But Trump announced last year that he will run as a candidate for the next election, so it is uncertain whether Biden has gotten rid of him for good.
Historically low unemployment
Lahlum also says that the economic situation during the extension of the pandemic has been demanding.
ECONOMY: Things have gone badly on the stock exchange in the past year Photo: Brendan McDermid / Reuters
With inflation rising and stock markets in a downward trend over the past year, Republicans have been talking about “Joe Biden’s recession.”
Biden himself has said several times that the economy is strong and growing, but internally in the United States high price increases have caused a lot of dissatisfaction.
– Together with the inherited debt problem, the price increase has largely overshadowed other more positive economic figures, Lahlum elaborates.
HISTORIC LOW: Never before has unemployment been so low. Photo: Nam Y. Huh / AP
Among them, unemployment in the US is historically low.
according to US Bureau of Statisticsit was 3.7% in November.
The way forward
The Democrats did far better than expected in the mid-term elections in 2022, and thus retained a narrow majority in the Senate.
BETTER THAN EXPECTED: The Democrats did a better mid-term election than expected. Photo: Samuel Corum / AFP
– But a Republican majority in the House of Representatives limits Biden’s political leeway for the next two years, he elaborates.
It is unclear whether Biden will run for the next election, and the Democrats have no clear reserve candidate.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE: Lahlum does not think Biden is running for re-election. Photo: Daniel Sannum Lauten
But Lahlum is clear in his speech:
– I have always been doubtful whether Biden plans to run again as an 82-year-old in 2024 and even more doubtful whether he should run for a new four-year term.
On the other hand, he is a bit more optimistic about Biden’s prospects when he looks at history.
– Biden’s will to continue in politics and to manage it should still not be underestimated: the man is standing there at the age of 80 at the peak of his career and in a 50-year political career has never lost to any Republican opponent, he concludes.
