Was Trump really so embarrassing? Not compared to Biden.

A comparison of records

This week’s news comes to a close with revelations that Hunter Biden, drug addict son of President Joe Biden, was deeply involved in the funding of a biotech firm in Ukraine as well as efforts to connect that biotech company with the crooked Ukrainian energy firm he was on the board of. The company in question, Metabiota, was a defense department contractor dedicated to research into the bioweapon potential of infectious diseases. This all took place during Biden’s tenure as Vice President that he was responsible for the situation in Ukraine.

Hunter’s involvement in Burisma was already a stain on Biden Sr’s reputation, which has been further damaged by his dismal, approval poll-sinking performance since coming into office. With this, one wonders how much lower his reputation can sink.

Interestingly, at the same time as Hunter Biden’s further shady dealings come to light, Donald Trump has announced he intends to sue Hillary Clinton, among others, for her involvement in the phoney Steele Dossier that sparked the ‘Russian Collusion’ investigation to begin with. This dossier was used by the FBI to obtain warrants to spy on Trump’s campaign. Much of what Donald Trump was accused of in the dossier has been revealed as a work of fiction by a Russian analyst, whilst Biden’s scandals have been verified after attempts by the media and national security officials to dismiss and suppress them as ‘Russian propaganda’.

All of this raises an interesting question – was Donald Trump really as big an embarrassment to the American Presidency as Joe Biden? Just this afternoon, I was in a bookshop in which there were countless books on how shameful the Trump Presidency was, as well as a number of now-defunct books alleging that Trump was in Putin’s pocket.  

Yet, when we look at Joe Biden’s record, both during and prior to his ascendancy to the highest office in the land, it’s very hard to argue that Biden is any less embarrassing.

From his worsening incoherence during his increasingly rare public appearances (including the moment he responded to a question by staring blankly and picking his teeth) to his administration’s seemingly endless string of cock-ups: the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the intentional loss of America’s status as a net energy exporter that has led to eye-watering gas prices of $6+ per gallon, his disastrous return to the Obama-era foreign policy that has once again emboldened Russia, China and Iran, not to mention the record inflation (which his administration can’t seem to decide to celebrate, insist is transitory, or blame Trump or the Russians) – America is in the most embarrassing state in living memory. I haven’t even mentioned the walking, cackling catastrophe that is Kamala Harris or Joe Biden’s record for being wrong on every foreign policy issue for his entire career. Or his hair sniffing.

The Presidency must be in a sorry state when rumours about the President having dementia and crapping his pants in front of the Pope are actually believable. It’s even more shocking when you remember that the media is actually on Biden’s side.

That same media insisted that Trump was the most embarrassing President the US ever had, yet there was such a shortage of embarrassing material that the media were often reduced to making it up. Those at CNN, who ironically broadcast a show with Brian Stelter called Reliable Sources, insisted upon the Steele Dossier as the verified bombshell that would end Trump. You cannot make this stuff up.

Trump’s administration, despite his unusual outbursts and tendency to say whatever popped into his head, performed quite well, both in terms of economic growth and foreign policy, having achieved unprecedented peace agreements between Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco. His administration pioneered Operation Warp Speed, the vaccination programme that Joe Biden inherited. ISIS shrank while Ukraine the Taiwan remained measurably safer from imperialist clutches.

The people who decided that Trump was embarrassing were the media who had long-abandoned any attempt at neutrality or journalism. ISIS, Russia, Iran, China and North Korea did not find Trump so embarrassing and acted accordingly.

When you compare the records of Biden and Trump, the truth is clear. For Trump, his stream of consciousness speeches, foul mouth and narcissism were accompanied by sound actions. As for Biden, both his words and deeds can only be called an incoherent mess.