Biden’s first year: The president's biggest blunders

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Biden's tumultuous first year with the press

The president had fewer press conferences than his predecessor during his first year, and frequently implied he would be 'in trouble' with his staff.

President Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021, where he talked about unity and major legislative goals. However, his administration has been plaqued by tensions within the Democratic Party, highly controversial foreign policy decisions, and legislative failures.

President Biden has faced criticism over soaring gas prices, inflation and his policies as his approval rating sank to 35% in a recent poll.

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FILE PHOTO: A commercial airplane is seen at the Hamid Karzai International Airport a day after U.S troops withdrawal in Kabul, Afghanistan August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Afghanistan

The United States left Afghanistan in August of last year, leaving behind thousands of allies who worked side-by-side with the American military for 20 years.  

While the administration boasts it evacuated over 120,000 Afghans—a majority were not Afghan interpreters or their families, officials say. The Biden administration has pledged to help vulnerable Afghans escape, but some lawmakers and veterans say the government has no plans to rescue perhaps the most critical ally: Afghan commandos. A group built from scratch by U.S. Special Operations Forces.  

Among the 124,000 Afghan evacuees whom the U.S. government flew out of Afghanistan in August and brought to military bases across the U.S.  before being resettled, many are struggling under a broken immigration bureaucracy, lack of government papers and documentation and delayed Social Security numbers, preventing them from working and feeding their families.

The U.S. government only commits to providing support for the evacuees for 90 days. It provides $1,225 per evacuee to help with those first 90 days. They also loan them the money to fly to their final destination. That money needs to be paid back.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court handed President Biden loss after loss in a series of tense legal battles since the president took office. 

His most recent defeat — a COVID-19 vaccination mandate that would affect a sweeping number of employers — may be the most painful yet for the administration.

The Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) vaccination mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. The OSHA mandate was a signature COVID-19 policy Biden had been pushing for months despite protests from conservatives.

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The Supreme Court voted in a 6-3 ruling to overturn Biden's eviction moratorium in August 2021, with the court's three liberal-leaning justices dissenting.

In the same month, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration's attempt to get rid of the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy violated federal law. 

Enjoy Your 16 Cents

The White House was panned on social media in 2020 over a tweet that mentioned the decrease in costs for home cookouts this year during the Fourth of July Weekend.

"The cost of a 4th of July cookout in 2021 is down $0.16 from last year," the tweet read, citing the Farm Bureau. The accompanying slideshow illustrates the dip in prices for some of the essential food for most cookouts. 

Rep Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., responded to the tweet by questioning if anyone in the Biden administration has been to a gas station recently. 

"The average price for a gallon of gas is $3.15," she posted. "This is the HIGHEST price for a gallon of gas since 2014 and a 42% INCREASE from last year."

Dan Price, the Gravity Payments CEO,  also responded to the tweet, "16 cents? Home prices are going up 24% annually right now. The median home goes up 16 cents every 1.3 seconds right now."

Supply Chain/ Inflation

A rapidly deteriorating supply chain has haunted the Biden administration since his early days in office.

Grocery shoppers across the country have encountered barren shelves when looking for their typical groceries due to supply chain snags, increasing COVID-19 infections and related hurdles as well as severe winter weather.

Biden has previously brushed off public outrage over the supply chain issues, claiming that the average American would not be able to understand such a complex situation.

"If we were all going out and having lunch together and I said, 'Let’s ask whoever's in the next table, no matter what restaurant we’re in, have them explain the supply chain to us.' Do you think they’d understand what we’re talking about?" Biden said.

"They're smart people," the president said, but he concluded the current crisis was a part of a "complicated world."

Jim Eagle, Jim Crow 2.0

Biden has made a habit of using aggressive and socially-charged accusations of racism towards political opponents.

President Biden said Republicans’ state voting legislation "makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle" during his first formal press conference in March 2021.

Biden, during the press conference, was asked about whether he worries that Republicans in states across the country proposing legislation to curb voting access could cost Democrats control of Congress during the 2022 midterms.

"I’m convinced that we’ll be able to stop this, because it is the most pernicious thing—this makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle."

Even members of Biden's own party have not been free from his finger-pointing and "Jim Crow" rhetoric.

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to support keeping the Senate filibuster rule, thus preventing her party from passing a federal election overhaul bill. Her lack of support sparked outrage from liberals who accused her of racist sympathies.

Biden said, "Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion. It’s about making it harder to vote, who gets to count the vote, and whether your vote counts at all."

"We have to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act," he continued, referring to legislation that is likely to be locked in a political stalemate in the Senate. 

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While such accusations have been parroted and championed by Biden-aligned Democrats, allegations of racism have done little to dampen opposition to the president's policies.

Masking when unnecessary, no mask in crowds

Biden, along with numerous other Democratic lawmakers, were frequently spotted not wearing their masks in public areas that required them.

Biden was caught ignoring mask requirements while in Detroit to visit the General Motors plant. The president enthusiastically shook hands while maskless in the crowded area.

In October, he was criticized after footage surfaced of him and the first lady not following local mask mandates in D.C. at a high-end Georgetown restaurant. 

Biden was also spotted ignoring signs requesting customers to wear a mask while on vacation in Nantucket. 

Conversely, the president was spotted masked up while walking alone with his similarly vaccinated and boosted wife. The president continued wearing the mask as he played alone with his dog on the remote beach.

Communication Skills

One of the most frequent sources of criticism against Biden has been his repeated verbal and mental gaffes during public appearances.

President Biden appeared at the South Carolina State University commencement ceremony Friday to speak to students of the historically Black university, where he committed several verbal gaffes. 

At different points, the president accidentally referred to Vice President Harris as "President Harris" and reflected on the "George Family Justice Act, Policing Act."  

"On police reform, I share the frustration," Biden said at one point. "And I know the family well – the George Family Justice Act, Policing Act – I know the family well," Biden said, mangling the name of Democrats' George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. 

On several occasions, Biden has stated that he was not supposed to take questions from the press or would get in "trouble" with his staff for not obeying instructions.

Back in March 2021, the White House raised eyebrows when it suddenly cut the feed of a virtual event after Biden said he was "happy to take questions" from Democratic lawmakers. 

"I'd be happy to take questions if that's what I'm supposed to do, Nance," Biden told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Whatever you want me to do."

The feed ended seconds later after a brief pause from the president.

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Fox News's Hannah Grossman, Ronn Blitzer, Jon Michael Raasch, Kyle Morris, Brooke Singman, and Matt Leach contributed to this report.