As an outside observer of US politics I can see that if there is one phrase that could be applied to the current occupant of the White House by US voters it would be the phrase ‘buyer’s remorse’. Although I accept that Donald Trump was a polarising figure and I say that as a supporter of the man, it can also be argued that his replacement in the form of Joe Biden is not that much cop either. Having observed the behaviour of Mr Biden over the last year since his inauguration, I can start to understand why the poll ratings for this president are dropping like the proverbial stone.

However it is not my view of President Biden that I wish to draw attention to but that of the UK commentator Piers Morgan. Now it’s not often that I find myself agreeing with Mr Morgan, but on the subject of Joe Biden I find that I find it difficult to disagree with Mr Morgan’s assessment of the current presidential incumbent.

In an article for the New York Post entitled ‘Dear Mr Biden’ Piers Morgan said:

You were going to reunite a bitterly fractured country by ending “the anger and harsh rhetoric,” remember?

You’ve failed. Your enraged, spiteful, Republican-bashing speeches at the start of this year were just as divisive as anything Donald Trump ever spewed. 

You were going to “defeat” COVID, remember?

You’ve failed. More Americans have died from coronavirus on your watch than under President Trump, the Omicron variant is surging out of control all over the country, your testing system has been disastrously slow, and you’ve still only persuaded 63% of US citizens to be vaccinated.

You were going to fix the economy, remember?

You’ve failed. Inflation is raging over 7%, fuel and energy bills are soaring, and consumer prices are spiking on everything from food to cars and furniture.

If what Mr Morgan said so far was damning enough he also took aim at the debacle of the withdrawal from Afghanistan that saw 200 civilians and 13 brave and committed US service personnel die in the process. Mr Morgan said that the withdrawal had left those Afghans who had served with the Americans “struggling to survive in abject, education-devoid poverty amid a new reign of suppressive, women-hating Taliban tyranny.“ Mr Morgan added that the hasty and withdrawal, something I would describe more as a rout, had given the world the impression that the US government cannot be trusted and that this will embolden America’s enemies.

Mr Morgan added that if the Afghan withdrawal disaster had happened on President Trump’s watch then there would have been a much more different and more hostile response to it from both the press and from the political classes. Mr Morgan said of this matter:

This ongoing debacle, met with deafening silence by your two-faced woke-brigade supporters who would have destroyed Trump if he’d been responsible, has sent the world a message that America can no longer be trusted.

Mr Morgan also criticised Joe Biden for hiding behind his press secretary and not being as transparent as he should be with the media. Mr Morgan claimed that President Biden has given less press conferences than any of his five predecessors in the office of President of the United States. I must admit that this claim is pretty damning if correct and it is almost as if Joe Biden is hiding from both the press and any awkward questions that might be asked by the press.

Mr Morgan predicts that there will be a wipe-out of Democrats in the upcoming mid term elections and he might well be correct here. The American people are hurting. They are hurting from Joe Biden’s mismanagement of the economy, the pandemic, energy policy and foreign affairs.

Mr Morgan leavened the criticisms with some praise for Mr Biden’s personal qualities and his humanity on a personal level that Mr Morgan has said that he has experienced and he spoke of how Mr Biden clung to his faith following the tragic death of his first wife and baby daughter in a car crash. Mr Morgan spoke of how people get through bad things by others reaching out to them and giving them solace and by the mourning individual finding a sense of purpose.

But on the issue of solace Mr Morgan said:

Ironically, a lot of hurting Americans seeking solace and purpose in these tumultuous times have lost faith in the person tasked with giving it to them and are asking, “Why him?” when they look at the current occupant of the White House: You.

To which, a year into your presidency, you have singularly failed to provide a convincing answer.

You exuded great hope a year ago, but that’s been wrecked by dithering, blathering, blundering reality.

Wake up, Joe, or you’re going to sleep-walk into the next election lamer than any lame-duck president ever, and the disgruntled American people will be voting for a divorce — and quite possibly getting back with their ex.

I must admit that I normally have little time for Piers Morgan or his works but I cannot but praise most highly his piece on Joe Biden and the failures that have dogged his term so far in office. It’s a brilliant piece but it is one that I wish had not need to have been written and maybe it would not have been had there been a more effective occupant, whether Trump or maybe a more competent Democrat, of the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.