RUTHFULLY YOURS

Does the United States of America have a functioning president right now? That question isn’t meant to be provocative. Members of both major parties have noted that President Joe Biden seems to have gone AWOL from his official duties as the nation’s executive in chief. A large chunk of voters agree, saying they want Biden to leave office right away.

In August’s I&I/TIPP Poll of 1,488 registered voters, taken from  July 31-Aug. 2, shortly after the Democratic Party forced Biden to step down as his party’s candidate, we asked voters the following question: “Which of the following do you believe is in the best interest of the country?”

As we wrote then:

“Respondents were given four possible responses: ‘Biden should finish his term,’ ‘Biden should step down and hand over the presidency to Harris,’ ‘Biden should be removed from office using the 25th Amendment,’ and ‘not sure.’ “

“The answer? A small plurality of 48% said they wanted Biden to ‘finish his term,’ while 41% said they wanted him either to ‘step down’ (21%) or “be removed” through the 25th Amendment (20%). Another 12% weren’t sure.”

A month later, for our September poll of 1,582 adults (taken from Aug. 28-30), we asked the same question. There was virtually no change in the overall numbers.

A hefty 42% of voters still agree either that “Biden should step down and hand over the presidency to Harris” (21%) or “should be removed from office using the 25th Amendment” (20%). Another 11% say they’re “not sure” in the poll, which has a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points.

Some 67% of Democrats wanted Biden to stay in office, but only 37% of Republicans and 44% of independents did. But 34% of Democrats wanted Biden either to “step down” (27%) or “be removed” through the 25th Amendment (7%).

For Republicans, half said they want Biden gone, either by him stepping down (14%) or by 25th Amendment removal (36%), with 12% not sure. Among independents, 41% overall wanted Biden either to leave on his own (21%) or be removed from office (20%) for being “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” as the 25th Amendment to the Constitution says.

Why is this important, with only a month and a half or so until the election? Because the current president will be in office until early January.

Both sides seem to agree that America faces serious challenges both at home and abroad — China’s aggression against its weaker neighbors, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing attempts by Islamist terrorist groups to destroy Israel, a flood of illegal immigrants into the U.S., inflation and high energy prices, growing political, racial and social divisions and unrest among Americans, among other serious problems.

Yet many leadership-hungry Americans see a virtually empty presidential office, with Biden spending increasing amounts of time at his beloved vacation retreat in Rehoboth Beach Delaware, or elsewhere.

As for the White House, apparently no one really knows who’s making the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, even minute-to-minute decisions.

Many wonder, if Biden’s at the beach, will he be able to make a snap decision in the case of a national emergency? Or will it be an anonymous aid? Or a decision by a committee of anonymous, unelected aides and Cabinet members?

The poll shows that 62% of Americans, including 42% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans, and 62% of independents are concerned about Biden’s ability to handle national security issues in the coming months.

This is more than a moot point. When the Biden administration held its first Cabinet meeting in a year last week, the meeting was chaired by unelected Jill Biden, as Modernity News reported last weekend. Biden was deemed too unwell to do the job.

“Who is running the country?” the story headline wondered. Many likened this recent episode to President Woodrow Wilson’s final time in office. After he had a disabling stroke, First Lady Edith Wilson became the nation’s de facto “first woman president,” according to many historians.

But even when Biden is present, it’s not clear he’s up to the job.

At a press conference for the Quad conference on Saturday, Biden forgot who among three government leaders he was supposed to call to the stage.

“Thank you all for being here and now, uhh, who am I introducing next? Who’s next?” the 81-year-old Biden angrily yelled.

A disembodied female voice then announced that the next leader to ascend the dais would be  India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the world’s largest democracy and an increasingly important global U.S. ally.

“Throughout his presidency, Biden has been dogged by similar faux pas and episodes of forgetfulness or confusion during high-profile outings,” the New York Post reported of Biden, the nation’s oldest president ever.

This most recent contretemps adds to a lengthy catalog of similar troubling mental moments during Biden’s presidency. It might have been worse, if not for the recent assertion by the GOP that the president has spent more than 40% of his time in office on vacation, more than any president in history.

“The image of Biden fast asleep and lying flat on his back in his chair at the beach while America and the world is on fire will define the Biden presidency,” said Mark Paoletta, former general counsel at the White House Budget Office under former President Donald Trump.

Adding to the I&I/TIPP findings, a July CBS News/YouGov Poll found that “Seventy-two percent of voters say Biden does not have the ‘mental’ and ‘cognitive health’ ” to serve as president, an increase from 65% just a month before.

As polls show, it’s clear that a significant share of Americans are discomfited by the idea of Biden finishing out his term. With 41 days until the election and almost four months left in Biden’s term, a lot of things can happen, many of them bad. Americans clearly want a steadier hand at the helm, even if that means Vice President Kamala Harris.

I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past five presidential elections.

Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.