President Joe Biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation as he leaves the White House on Wednesday evening – five days before Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.
Biden will undoubtedly paint a picture of a robust, successful term in office. It may be tempting to see America and the world through rose-colored glasses, but I won't be fooled. While Biden has been president, disasters have piled up one after the other over the past four years.
And I can't say goodbye to Biden fast enough.
Millions of Americans felt left behind in Biden's economy
Biden will certainly talk about what he believes is a strong American economy. Biden said in a speech on Friday that the economy had made “transformational progress” under his watch and that he had added 16.6 million jobs.
Biden did add jobs, I'll give him that. According to Forbes, employment has increased by 12%. Unemployment has fallen from 6.2% at the beginning of 2021 to 4.1%.
Still, job growth could not ease the pain that high inflation has inflicted on Americans during Biden's presidency. Consumer prices rose by an average of 5.4% on an annual basis. Annual inflation was just 1.9% during Trump's first term.
President Joe Biden leaves the stage after speaking at the State Department in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2025.
The high costs of food, housing and even used vehicles have left many Americans frustrated and discouraged. The American dream seems more like a vapor than an attainable goal.
The Associated Press VoteCast, a survey of Americans who cast ballots in November, found that three in 10 voters had fallen behind financially in recent years, and as many as 90% of voters were somewhat or very concerned about the costs of the elections. groceries. About 80% were concerned about the costs of health care, housing and gasoline.
No president is entirely responsible for the success or failure of the American economy. But Biden continued to pile up trillions of dollars in deficits even after alarms sounded about rising inflation.
I won't miss a president who ignored inflation until it was too late, and I'm willing to bet most Americans won't either.
Biden presided over a world on fire
In his farewell address, Biden is also likely to put a positive spin on his handling of foreign relations. On Monday, the president gave a speech at the State Department defending his foreign policy record.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker,” Biden said. “We didn't go to war to make these things happen.”
However, the reality is much grimmer.
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On Biden's watch, Russia invaded Ukraine, Hamas attacked Israel, the United States bungled its withdrawal from Afghanistan and the military alliances binding China, Iran, North Korea and Russia grew stronger.
Americans are still being held hostage in Gaza after more than 15 months of captivity, and anti-Semitism has increased in the United States and around the world.
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We will never know for sure which disasters could have been prevented if a stronger American president had been in power. But we do know that the United States and the world enjoyed a period of relative peace when Trump was in the White House.
I will not miss a president who looked weak and failed to deter wars around the world.
Biden refused to be honest about his health
The biggest thing I won't miss about Biden is his blatant dishonesty.
The president was not honest with Americans about his poor health and ability to serve a second term. That deepened distrust among Americans, at a time when public trust in our government is dangerously low.
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He also repeatedly promised not to pardon his son Hunter, who was convicted in federal court on gun crimes and tax charges. But then the president broke his vow and handed Hunter a Get Out of Jail Free card that erased 11 years of actual and potential crimes.
Despite what Biden will likely claim in his farewell speech, the truth paints a different story. From high inflation and rampant dishonesty to standing by as wars broke out, Biden failed repeatedly during his one term in the White House. I won't miss him.
Goodbye and Rejoice, Mr. President.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist at USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four children. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it in your inbox.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's farewell address cannot erase his failures as president | Opinion
