Naomi Lim of the Washington Examiner looks into the political impact of President Biden’s document scandal.
President Joe Biden’s support among Democrats is eroding after the Justice Department discovered more classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Democrats’ exasperation with Biden’s response to the controversy coincides with expectations he will announce his 2024 reelection campaign after he delivers his State of the Union address next month.
Democrats, some of whom brought popcorn to the House Republican speakership election, are now having to answer questions about their own leadership. Although most distinguish Biden and former President Donald Trump’s classified document controversies, an increasing number of White House allies are criticizing the administration’s management of the scandal.
“The drip, drip, drip of new documents is problematic for Biden and is becoming slightly more than an annoyance for Democrats,” attorney and former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) aide Christopher Hahn told the Washington Examiner. “It’s hard to explain to the public that Biden and Trump should be viewed differently. In politics, if you’re explaining, you’re losing, and it’s clear congressional Democrats have opted not to explain.”
The Aggressive Progressive podcast host added, “While this isn’t an electoral issue at the moment, should this continue into the spring, it could well be.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, admitted Biden had “well, of course” ceded the political high ground regarding classified documents after the Justice Department uncovered another batch of records in Wilmington last Friday following an almost 13-hour search of “all working, living and storage spaces” of his residence, including from when he was a senator.
“Let’s be honest about it,” Durbin told CNN. “When that information is found, it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it, because it’s not supposed to happen. Whether it was the fault of a staffer or attorney, it makes no difference. The elected official bears ultimate responsibility.”
