United States: Biden's image plummets

The hopes placed in Joe Biden's management of the United States, after Donald Trump's stormy term in office, are beginning to wane in a worrying way for the Democrats. The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, with the days-long drama in Kabul, has dealt a heavy blow to the president who has been dealt what is being interpreted as a defeat.   

But there are more problems that are mounting around the new administration. Biden's slim majority in Congress and the Senate is proving insufficient in the face of divisions even within his own party. Gigantic infrastructure projects promised during the campaign are not getting off the ground in the face of difficulties in the Legislative branch.

One of the challenges Biden encountered when he took office nine months ago was the COVID pandemic. And the pandemic has subsided, albeit insufficiently: it continues to produce a daily toll of 90,000 infections. The reluctance of many to get vaccinated and the poor primary care received by the sick are undoubtedly the reasons why these figures are not falling. The economy, meanwhile, is not picking up.

Last month prices rose by 4% and inflation so far this year stands at 5.4%. The concern that these figures raise is great and even more so when it is reflected on a daily basis in the difficulties in finding work. Forecasts predicted that around 300,000 new jobs would be created after the coronavirus crisis in October and the balance is barely half that, 194,000.

Although Trump's memory is beginning to fade in the distance, internally his active presence continues to disrupt normality with rampant activity in the states in the run-up to the 2024 elections. He is not resigned to his status as a former president. He has a lot of money and his public interventions stimulate a desire for revenge for what he considers to be the electoral fraud that drove him from the White House.