Biden governing like a reluctant president

NEWS AND OPINION:

“Hidin’ Biden.”

This handy phrase comes to us from Fox News contributor Joe Concha.

“President Biden hasn’t done a TV interview with any news outlet since October. He held exactly three solo press conferences in 2023,” Mr. Concha wrote in a column published Monday by the New York Post.

He noted that when former President Donald Trump was in office, he held 35 press conferences in his last year in office alone.

“This election year, we have an octogenarian president who keeps insisting he is the only man for the job yet acting like an absentee landlord of the country he’s supposed to lead,” Mr. Concha said.

“Prices for food, rent, gas and heating are still way too high for Americans to afford without dipping into their savings. Credit card debt has eclipsed $1 trillion, an all-time high. The border is open and essentially lawless,” he continued.

“Budgets in cities like New York are collapsing under the weight of an unsustainable number of illegal immigrants being taken care of on the taxpayer dime. Crime is driving Americans out of blue cities across the country to states like Florida, Texas and Tennessee,” Mr. Concha said.

“There’s no COVID to hide behind this time. There is also no hiding from a record that has Biden polling lower than any of the last seven presidents at this stage of his presidency. You want another four years, Mr. President? Perhaps start acting like you really do,” the columnist said.

BUSY HALEY

Presidential hopeful and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has eight stops in South Carolina on the itinerary this week — all part of her “Beast of the Southeast” bus tour. It’s no wonder she is so busy. The state’s Republican presidential primary is Saturday.

She begins her tour on Tuesday with stops in Greenville and nearby Clemson. Wednesday finds Ms. Haley in North Augusta and Beaufort; on Thursday, she’ll call on Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. On Friday, the candidate journeys to Moncks Corner, followed by her last stop in Mount Pleasant.

A SENATOR HAS A SAY

An event of note: Sen. Rand Paul appears Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County, California, to discuss his latest book, “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up,” which was published by Regnery.

So what kind of cover-up are we talking about here?

The Kentucky Republican and former physician, according to advance notes shared with Inside the Beltway, “presents evidence suggesting that Covid-19 may have originated from research conducted at the Wuhan lab in China, partially funded by the U.S. Government without undergoing regulatory review.”

Mr. Paul will also take audience questions and sign copies of the book.

The event will be broadcast live and online at 6 p.m. Pacific time through the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute’s website and social media channels.

Find information at ReaganFoundation.org.

DRIVING FORCE

“Future electric cars could go more than 600 miles on a single charge thanks to battery-boosting gel,” according to Live Science, an online news organization.

“By using gel, researchers have found a way to incorporate silicon into batteries while negating its destructive tendency to expand — meaning future EVs could use the technology to go much further on a single charge,” analyst Roland Moore-Coyler wrote in the report.

“Electric vehicle range anxiety could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a breakthrough in battery technology, which could give EVs a range of more than 620 miles,” he noted, adding that current EVs have an average maximum range of 300 miles.

“Even the longest-range electric car, the Lucid Air, runs out of charge after about 500 miles,” Mr. Moore-Coyler said.

The research was carried out at Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea; the researchers originally published their findings on Jan. 17 in the journal Advanced Science, an academic publication.

THE BOBBLE FACTOR

Monday was a big day for the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. The Milwaukee-based organization displays and produces those nodding, charming figures from sports, politics and other areas of interest.

“To celebrate Presidents’ Day, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled three new series of Presidential Bobbleheads which include the first series of First Lady Bobbleheads featuring 15 First Ladies, a Resolute Desk Series featuring 11 Presidents, and a White House Podium Series featuring seven Presidents. The bobbleheads are available exclusively from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. Each bobblehead in the series will be individually numbered to 1,776 for the year of the founding of the United States,” the organization said in a written statement to Inside the Beltway.

The 15 first ladies are Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Mary Todd Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Melania Trump and Jill Biden.

The Resolute Desk Bobblehead Series depicts Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

But wait, there’s more. The White House Podium Bobblehead Series — yes, they stand at a lectern — feature the seven most-recent presidents, from Reagan to Mr. Biden.

Find the details at https://www.bobbleheadhall.com/.

POLL DU JOUR

• 40% of U.S. voters think it is “not at all likely” that former President Donald Trump will be replaced as the Republican nominee on the presidential ballot in November.

• 55% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 33% of Democrats also agree.

• 26% of voters overall think it is “not too likely” Mr. Trump will be replaced on the ballot.

• 22% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 22% of Democrats also agree.

• 22% overall think it is “somewhat likely” that Mr. Trump will be replaced.

• 14% of Republicans, 23% of independents and 30% of Democrats also agree.

• 10% think it is “very likely” he will be replaced on the ballot.

• 8% of Republicans, 7% of independents and 14% of Democrats also agree.

• 2% say they don’t know.

• 1% of Republicans, 3% of independents and 3% of Democrats also agree.

SOURCE: A Monmouth University poll of 822 registered U.S. voters conducted by telephone Feb. 8-12.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, and on Facebook @harperbulletin.