Who thinks Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump?

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to shock a CNN reporter when he said in a recent interview that he could make the argument that President Joe Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than former president Donald Trump. 

“Him trying to overthrow the election clearly is a threat to democracy,” Kennedy said about Trump. “But the question was, who is a worse threat to democracy and what I would say is… I’m not going to answer that question, but I can argue that President Biden is.”

Kennedy pointed out that he recently won a court case in which he accused the Biden administration of weaponizing federal agencies to censor the political speech of Americans. The court found that the Biden administration improperly coordinated with Big Tech companies to remove content they deemed “misinformation” or “conspiracy theories.”

In addition to Kennedy’s example, the Biden Department of Justice has arrested pro-life activists they claim violated the FACE Act, targeted traditional Catholics under the guise they may become domestic extremists and created threat tags for parents who protest at school board meetings. More broadly, Democrats in multiple states attempted to remove Trump from the ballot using the Fourteenth Amendment, a move that was struck down in a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court.

RFK’s comments come as the Biden campaign and Democrats double down on claims that Trump would destroy democracy and is a fascistic leader. The Democratic National Committee responded, “there is no comparison to summoning a mob to the Capitol and promising to be a dictator on day one,” in reference to the idea Trump incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021 and a tongue-in-cheek remark Trump made to respond to critics who say he will be a dictator if he wins a second term. 

Complicating the outsized focus on “saving democracy” from Trump are polls that show democracy falling far behind immigration and the economy as top issues for voters and that voters are split on which candidate will actually do a better job of “protecting democracy.” NBC News found that Biden only has a two-point advantage on that question, while Trump enjoys a thirty-five-point advantage on immigration, twenty-two points on the economy, and twenty-one points on dealing with crime and violence. 

-Amber Duke

On our radar

BIDEN ODDS UP The political betting platform PredictIt has improved President Joe Biden’s odds of winning the presidential election in November, putting the price to bet on him at forty-nine cents to Trump’s forty-five cents. 

BIG MONEY Trump and the RNC announced they pulled in $65.6 million in March. They now have $93.1 million in cash on hand going into April. Biden recently raised a whopping $25 million at just one fundraiser last week.

NEVADA ON THE TABLE The Cook Political Report updated its rating on the Nevada Senate race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up.” Incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen is likely to face retired Army Captain Sam Brown. 

JUDGE NOT Donald Trump’s lawyers have requested that hush-money trial judge Juan Merchan recuse himself because his daughter Loren is a political consultant who has worked for Democrats. This follows Trump’s attacks on Ms. Merchan that claimed she had posted a picture of him behind bars on Twitter, which reporting from The Spectator disproved.

The State Department does DEI

While diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are “under siege” in corporate America, the Biden administration is throwing the controversial initiative a lifeline.

Following the International Transgender Day of Visibility celebration by the White House, the State Department announced it is finally filling Antony Blinken’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion with Zakiya Carr Johnson, whose LinkedIn profile lists a series of DEI-related roles she’s had, including founding Black Women Disrupt and serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a role that focuses on “diversity inclusion.”  

The news was immediately lauded by many, including the special representative for racial equity and justice, Desirée Cormier Smith, who said that promoting DEI is “complementary to our equity in foreign affairs work.”

While Blinken’s staff is excited about the hire, which fills a vacancy that had gone unfilled for almost a year, others are less jazzed. Ric Grenell, who served in a variety of diplomatic positions in the Trump administration, including serving as acting director of national intelligence, told The Spectator that “there should be honest conversations welcoming dissenting views when the policy is made in the regional bureaus or in the senior staff meeting of the secretary. Pretending that an office down the hall will have any real impact on a policy is simply window dressing after the fact. Diversity means diverse opinions in the room when the policy is made.”

In Congress, some of the Republicans who serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are disappointed that Biden and Blinken are promoting DEI at a time when everyone else is moving on. “Just as the rest of America is figuring out that the DEI quota movement isn’t delivering results, somehow Secretary Blinken thinks it will work on the world stage, Congressman Bill Huizenga lamented. “Typical of this administration.”

Some foreign policy vets were quick to give Carr advice for her new role. “Here’s a suggestion for State’s new DEI officer — on Easter, it’s Trans Visibility Day. On Eid, it’s Trans Invisibility Day,” a senior foreign policy expert quipped.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment about how domestic DEI is being reconciled with DEI abroad as some US allies — and certainly its foes — expressly reject such measures. 

–Matthew Foldi

Celebrity chef’s team dies in Gaza

Chef José Andrés blamed Israel policy vis-à-vis its war with Hamas for the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers this Wednesday.

“The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity,” Andrés wrote in a New York Times guest essay Wednesday.

The Israeli strike that killed the workers — which include three Brits and an American — came at a time were the Biden administration finds itself attempting to distance itself from President Benjamin Netanyahu and his planned Rafah offensive, following its previously expressed unequivocal support of Israel’s war effort. 

Biden responded to this news by saying that he was “outraged,” claiming that Israel has not been doing its part in protecting the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. 

“You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population,” Andrés wrote. “It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.”

–Juan P. Villasmil

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