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Here's the Grade John Kirby Gives Joe Biden on 'Balancing' Foreign Policy

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 27, 2023 5:45 PM

As is the case in most matters of his presidency, the American people aren't too keen on how Joe Biden has handled the various foreign policy crises that have gone on in the nearly three years he's been in office. From the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and now Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel, the world has been a mess. Overall, Biden's approval has not been great, as he's experienced some of his highest disapproval ratings during his presidency in recent polls. Further, if 2024 really looks to be a rematch between Biden and former and potentially future President Donald Trump, it currently looks to be a close race.

When a reporter during Tuesday's White House press briefing asked NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby how Biden is handling "sort of immediate foreign policy objectives versus sort of his longer-term foreign policy objectives," Kirby didn't have much to provide.

Initially, he tried to say Biden was doing "well." After being met with awkward silence, Kirby shrugged and sought to emphasize "he's balancing it well," looking to leave it at that. Upon being asked for follow-up, though, Kirby gave Biden an "A+" rating. Although there was laughter from reporters, Kirby stuck to how he "mean[t] that" A+ rating, pointing out Biden "is Commander-in-Chief," and supposedly one who "never stops."

Kirby went on to emphasize "the duties and responsibilities are literally global," adding "we are one nation that has truly global responsibilities," as he claimed Biden's "managing it all."

As he continued on in his response, Kirby looked to blame Congress. "Now, it would be really helpful if he could also get the support of Congress up on Capitol Hill, particularly for this supplemental funding.  It will be immensely simpler and easier for the President to manage all these multiple crisis if we could get that funding for Ukraine, the funding for Israel, the funding for the Indo-Pacific Strategy, and, of course, down at the border," he offered.

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Such a response comes despite how the Biden administration has handled the crisis at the southern border in a particularly poor fashion, while seeking to lie, gaslight, and cast blame on Republicans in the matter.

The American people would not give Biden an "A+" rating when it comes to his handling of any issue, let alone foreign policy.

According to RealClearPolitics (RCP) averages, Biden has a 40.7 percent approval rating, while 55.6 percent disapprove. This includes the CBS News poll which showed him with a 60 percent disapproval rating and a CNBC poll with a 58 percent disapproval rating, which we covered last week.

RCP also breaks down approval ratings by issue, and on foreign policy he has a 38.1 percent approval rating, while 57.6 percent disapprove; a 42.5 percent approval rating on Ukraine, while 52.5 percent disapprove; and, since Kirby mentioned the border, it's worth pointing out Biden has just a 32.3 percent rating on immigration, while 64.8 percent disapprove. 

What about Biden's fellow Democrats? Are they at least willing to given Biden an "A+" rating on foreign policy. Not quite, as evidenced by one recent that gauged respondents' views on foreign policy and indicated how respondents felt by demographic.

A poll conducted October 21-24 by the Economist/YouGov found that Biden voters and Democrats were less likely to approve of Biden's handling of foreign policy than Trump voters and Republicans were to disapprove. Overall, 38 percent of respondents approved of Biden's handling of the issue, while 52 percent disapprove. The numbers were registered voters were similar, in that 39 percent approved while 54 percent disapproved.

While 72 percent of Biden voters and 73 percent of Democrats approve of Biden's handling of foreign policy--and were pretty split as to if they strongly or somewhat approved--91 percent of Trump voters and 86 percent of Republicans disapproved, and overwhelming majorities said they did so "strongly."

When it comes to the more recent foreign policy issue of the Israel-Hamas war, Biden still lacks that "A+" rating. A plurality, at 42 percent disapprove, while 38 percent approve, and 20 percent say they're not sure how Biden is handling it. Among registered voters, the numbers are more pronounced, as 45 percent disapprove, while 40 percent approve and 15 percent are unsure. 

That Kirby is trying to get away with saying Biden is balancing things "well" and deserves an "A+" rating, as well as how he's even "managing it well" isn't the only laughable defense of Biden that the administration has tried to make.

Back in August, when concerns about the president's age--which still remain--were front and center, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to tell CNN's Jake Tapper that Biden was handling his duties well, which including claming that "people were so impressed that he was able to be there and look strong and represent--represent the American people in Kyiv in a war zone country."

Jean-Pierre even told Tapper "I have had conversations with some of your colleagues in the White House press corps when we travel abroad how it is hard for us to keep up with this president who is constantly, constantly working every day to get things done and making sure that we are delivering for the American people."

More recently, the Biden administration has taken to once again bragging all over X how the president has been to two war zones, as if it were a positive that two wars have started since he took office.

Speaking of war zones, when Russia invading Ukraine in February of last year, polling at the time from Harvard CAPS-Harris showed that 62 percent of respondents believe that Vladir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump was still president, and 59 percent responded that they believe Putin made such a move because he saw a weakness in Biden.

Making Kirby's claims even more laughable still is that the State Department just issued a rare "worlwide caution" alert earlier this month, not long after Hamas attacked Israel and ensuing "anger in the Arab world," as Spencer put it.

It's worth pointing to some exchanges during Thursday's press briefing that Matt covered, as Kirby did have some shining moments when he served cold, harsh truths to reporters about the reality of war, including and especially when contending with Hamas and their use of human shields. He also indicated the death toll according to numbers used by Hamas are not to be trusted.