House GOP Declares Biden’s First Year “One Year of Failure” as Polls Show 37% of Americans Give Him an F

On 1/19/2022, House Republican leaders Steve Scalise and Elise Stefanik held a press conference marking the one-year anniversary of Biden’s inauguration, calling it “one year of failure” and citing a Politico/Morning Consult poll showing 37% of Americans gave Biden an F grade. The leaders highlighted Biden’s rejection of a mass COVID testing plan in October, his deference to teachers’ unions over children, and his failure to deliver on his campaign promise to “shut down the virus.”

37% Give Biden an “F”

A Politico/Morning Consult survey released the day before Biden’s anniversary found that the largest share of respondents — 37% — gave the president an F for his first year. Twenty percent gave him a B, 18% a C, and only 11% gave him top marks. A separate finding showed 52% of Americans surveyed viewed Biden as a “weak leader.”

“Even if you were grading on a curve, by all objective reporting, he would get an F for failing the American people on all the challenges that we’re seeing our country face right now,” Scalise said.

The poll also showed Biden receiving an F from 40% of the public on “unity” — the central promise of his candidacy. Even the poll’s analyst noted: “He is a unifying figure, I think objectively, or tries to be. He got an F by 40% of the public on that grade.”

Biden Rejected October Testing Plan

Scalise seized on a bombshell Vanity Fair report revealing that in October 2021, health experts had presented Biden with a plan to distribute 750 million COVID tests to American homes before Christmas. Biden rejected the plan.

“They actually saw it coming. And they presented the plan to Joe Biden, who said he was going to shut down the virus as a candidate,” Scalise said. “And you know what Joe Biden did in October? He rejected that plan.”

Scalise noted that he and Rep. Jamie Comer had requested hearings into the testing failure, but Democrats refused. “They seemed over-eager to talk about transparency and accountability until all of a sudden they were accountable,” he said.

Teachers’ Unions Over Children

Stefanik accused Biden of letting teachers’ union bosses manipulate CDC guidance on school reopenings. “We saw the reports that the teachers’ union bosses were able to manipulate a report by the CDC on school reopenings,” Stefanik said. “Think of how destructive keeping schools closed has been to our young kids.”

“When Joe Biden had an opportunity to stand up for their kids, he instead chose to stand with the teachers’ unions against those kids and manipulated a report that kept kids out of school,” Stefanik said.

She also noted that Biden still had not appointed an FDA commissioner one year into his presidency. “The FDA has been called a rudderless ship in the middle of a pandemic,” Stefanik said. “And he ran on shutting down the virus."

"Crisis After Crisis”

Stefanik laid out the full scope of what Republicans called “one-party, far-left socialist Democrat control.” “In just one year, what have we seen? Joe Biden’s failed leadership has led to crisis after crisis for the American people,” she said, listing an “economic crisis, an energy crisis, a border crisis, an education crisis, a national security crisis, and now a worsening COVID crisis.”

She noted that wages had decreased in eight of 11 months since Biden took office, and that 2021 was the worst year for inflation since 1981 — “before I was born, which makes my colleagues laugh and makes them feel older.”

Psaki Snaps at Reporter

The video also included Psaki’s exchange with a reporter who had asked which administration officials attended the October testing meeting. Psaki refused to provide names and snapped: “I think I just answered your question, which you may not have been listening. Maybe you were waiting to read your next question, which is fine.”

“I didn’t get the answers there, but I’ll move on to another one,” the reporter responded.

Key Takeaways

A Politico/Morning Consult poll showed 37% of Americans gave Biden an F for his first year, with 52% calling him a “weak leader.”
Biden rejected an October plan to distribute 750 million COVID tests before Christmas despite campaigning on “shutting down the virus.”
Republicans accused Biden of letting teachers’ union bosses manipulate CDC school reopening guidance, keeping children out of classrooms.
Stefanik noted Biden still had no FDA commissioner one year into his presidency during a pandemic.
House Republicans announced plans to roll out “a bold agenda” to confront Biden’s crises heading into the midterms.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

Even if you were grading on a curve, by all objective reporting, he would get an F for failing the American people.
They presented the plan to Joe Biden, who said he was going to shut down the virus as a candidate. And you know what Joe Biden did in October? He rejected that plan.
When Joe Biden had an opportunity to stand up for their kids, he instead chose to stand with the teachers’ unions against those kids.
The FDA has been called a rudderless ship in the middle of a pandemic. And he ran on shutting down the virus.
They seemed over-eager to talk about transparency and accountability until all of a sudden they were accountable.
2021 being the worst year for inflation since 1981 — before I was born.

Full transcript: 1269 words transcribed via Whisper AI.