Joe Biden's Answer on New 'Africa Ban' Should Bring Comfort to No One

Bonchie reporting for RedState

Many months ago, I wrote an article entitled “We Don’t Have a President.” That was in response to Joe Biden disappearing for several days, while Israel entered into another war with the Palestinians and a cyberattack took down a major pipeline in the United States.

Those concerns seem quaint now, given the disaster in Afghanistan and the escalation of a series of domestic issues that followed, from high inflation to the supply chain crisis. Of course, the response to COVID-19 has been no better, and another confused measure was taken yesterday in response to the newest variant scare.

Initially, Dr. Anthony Fauci signaled that a travel ban was not necessary, saying on Friday morning they would continue to watch the “data.” By the afternoon, though, the administration shifted, announcing what is now being called an “Africa Ban” on several countries in Africa that are seeing outbreaks. The immense hypocrisy of that aside, it was then revealed that this extremely important travel ban wouldn’t even go into effect until Monday.

I suppose the virus is cool with taking a break over the weekend and won’t otherwise spread? When Biden was asked about that discrepancy, this was his answer.

I’ll say it again: We do not have a president.

Recall back in January of 2020, when almost nothing was known about COVID-19, then President Donald Trump banned travel from China. He was immediately hit with charges of “xenophobia” for making the move. Further, that decision was made despite opposition from his health “experts,” including Fauci, who was continually cited as a foil to Trump during that time. That is what a president does. They make tough decisions. They don’t wait around for unelected bureaucrats to tell them what to do.

By contrast, Biden doesn’t even attempt to be president. Rather, his entire tenure is a series of handoffs to his handlers and the “experts,” none of whom are accountable to the public.

During the Afghanistan crisis (which still continues today with Americans remaining trapped), Biden attempted to blame his generals. In response to the border crisis, Biden has blamed CBP actions and Trump-era policies. Now, when faced with the opportunity to stand up and be a leader on something as simple as a travel ban, he’s demurring again, not even willing to enact it in a timely manner.

No one elected Biden’s “medical team,” and there’s ample evidence to believe they are influenced by politics. If you are going to ban travel from these African nations, it should be done immediately — just as the European nations have done. To wait around until Monday completely misses the point of the ban. A normal, non-senile president would recognize that and make a decisive decision. Instead, we are left with an empty suit who is content to let the “experts” run the country into the ground.