Nearly four months have passed since the White House demanded the American people's gratitude because, according to the White House, the cost of a Fourth of July cookout was 16 cents less than it was in 2020. Much has changed since that preposterous Twitter post, a Washington Free Beacon analysis has determined.
When it comes to the price of Thanksgiving dinners or Christmas presents, the White House is unlikely to congratulate itself on social media. The inflation rate has been above 5 percent since May, and the supply chain crisis, among other factors, has wreaked havoc on transportation costs. The New York Times warned that "Thanksgiving 2021 could be the most expensive meal in the history of the holiday," and economic experts anticipate surging prices and supply shortages to ruin the Christmas season for millions of Americans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs have increased almost 10 percent since the end of June, when some wunderkind White House staffers were drafting that infamous tweet.
As food prices have been on the rise, the president's approval rating has been moving in the opposite direction. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden's job approval rating was 52.3 percent on July 1. As of Oct. 27, it was down to just 42.3 percent. During that same period, the number of Americans who disapproved of Biden's job performance soared from 43.3 percent to 52.1 percent.
Despite Biden's campaign pledge to "shut down" the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Americans continue to die on his watch. Since July 1, Biden has presided over more than 132,000 deaths from COVID-19, which amounts to an average of about 1,123 deaths per day. During the campaign, Biden argued that any president who presided over a "thousand deaths a day" should "not remain" as commander in chief. Since taking office in January, a total of 327,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 on Biden's watch. That's about 35,000 more than the number of U.S. combat deaths during World War II.
In addition to the economic challenges at home, Biden also oversaw the calamitous withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of 13 service members. Despite doing his best to avoid public appearances, Biden continues to give Americans reasons to doubt his mental fitness as he prepares to celebrate his 79th birthday on Nov. 20.
Perhaps the most telling indicator of Biden's rapidly declining political fortunes is the number of House Democrats opting to retire rather than seek reelection in 2022. Seven Democratic members of Congress have announced their retirements this year, including four since August and three in the month of October. Given the Democratic Party's slim majorities in both the House and Senate, the GOP would only need to pick up a handful of seats to regain control of the legislative branch and all but eliminate Biden's hopes of enacting his radical left-wing agenda.
