Summary
President Joe Biden leaves office with a legacy of leading the U.S. out of the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and rallying global support for Ukraine.
However, since live television’s rise more than half a century ago, the skills needed to run for president have diverged from those required to govern.
This led many voters to doubt his capability despite his achievements, forcing him to withdraw from the 2024 race.
Meanwhile, voters have been less critical of Donald Trump’s age, overlooking unpopular policies like tariffs that hurt farmers and manufacturing.
Many Republicans and independent voters accepted Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election being stolen and justified the January 6 Capitol attack, enabling his return to office.
I remember Trump ending the pandemic preparedness operation that Bush and Obama had running in China, putting his son in law in charge of the response and letting him shut down the response team because it was hitting blue states harder at the time, stealing PPE from Blue states to give to his buddy to resell and ranting against masks because they fucked up his bronzer. Don’t try to sugar coat what Trump did just because he put a fancy name on research that was already happening anyway.