Joe Biden is increasing his outings two weeks before his departure. As if the 46e President of the United States was chasing lost time, definitely seeking to distance himself from Donald Trump. Certainly, Joe Biden’s predecessor and successor spoiled the latter’s mandate from start to finish. He first did so by refusing the results of the polls in 2020, to the point of encouraging his supporters to carry out a coup attempt with the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. But Donald’s re-election Trump, in 2024, is as much the electoral rehabilitation of the ex-president as the defeat of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and, above all, a disavowal inflicted on the outgoing president.
Joe Biden’s presidential record is mixed. In economic matters, he put America back on track. On the issue of immigration, a real scarecrow and gondola head of a Trump having succeeded in stifling any other debate, within the Republican Party as across the country, Joe Biden has only grasped too well these issues late.
During his mandate, the United States has, in part, reconnected with the multilateralism that Donald Trump loathes. Joe Biden has assumed his responsibilities as leader of NATO vis-à-vis Ukraine invaded by Russia. Courageous in Ukraine but powerless in the Middle East, spectator of Israel’s headlong flight after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the American president has increased financial aid. It remains to be seen whether, ultimately, these were not blank checks. American diplomacy attempts, including with regard to China, have been largely unsuccessful. It is also true that Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv had bet on Trump and played for time.
The main stain on Joe Biden’s record is not having known how to prepare for succession and believing that at 82 years old, he could run for a second term. The rest is known: he accepted the evidence in July. Without being prepared, Vice President Kamala Harris, a natural backup candidate, knew her chance. But it was too late to carry on the legacy of the Biden presidency.
