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Will Klain Be Thrown Under the Bus to Save Biden?

Posted on Tuesday, June 7, 2022
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by Shane Harris
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AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris

Biden
President Joe Biden walks with Chief of Staff Ron Klain along the Colonnade of the White House.

Ron Klain was Joe Biden’s first personnel decision after the 2020 election, ostensibly representative of the “adults” that Biden claimed to be putting back in charge. But as the embattled President continues to sink in the polls and Democrats face impending disaster this November, it increasingly looks as if Klain may become the latest victim of Biden’s blame game for why his administration has failed to inspire the support or confidence of the American people.

According to reporting from NBC News last week, “multiple people close to the White House said they’ve heard that chief of staff Ron Klain will depart at some point after the midterms,” apparently in the hope of changing the public perception of a White House that has failed to do enough to alleviate the litany of crises plaguing the nation. Other Democratic insiders have suggested that Klain could be shown the door even before the midterm elections – a move that would seem to confirm reports of dysfunction inside the West Wing and show just how desperate Democrats are for any sort of shakeup before Election Day.

While it is true that White House Chiefs of Staff often don’t serve entire presidential terms (at just under 18 months, Klain is already close to the average tenure for the position), were Klain to depart 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue either before the midterms or immediately following a major defeat for Democrats, it would mark a rather ignominious final chapter for someone whom the New York Times lauded last January for his “steady nerves” and “fierce wit” as “political tactician… well versed in the levers of power in both the executive and legislative branches of government.”

For Klain, the feeling is likely one of exasperation with a situation that is in many ways out of his control. The public’s lack of confidence in the President is largely a result of both his evident cognitive decline, something Klain is powerless to stop, and the rash of crises that have defined Biden’s presidency. Though Klain does play a significant role in crafting policy, he is similarly incapable of arresting the dramatic leftward slide of the Democratic Party generally, something which has left the President deeply out of touch with ordinary voters (although some close to the President believe Klain has actively pushed Biden too far to the left). Klain cannot fix the widening rift between moderate and progressive Democrats that has played a role in endangering so many incumbents this fall, nor can he do anything about the series of court decisions which have ruled many of Biden’s executive actions to be unlawful, from keeping Title 42 in place to striking down the mask mandate on airplanes. Yet as Chief of Staff, all of these defeats now rest at Klain’s feet.

To be sure, Klain is far from guiltless in his reported fall from grace. Critics have argued that Klain, a Washington careerist who started as legislative director for then-Representative Ed Markey back in 1983, is too often preoccupied with Beltway gossip rather than the issues concerning ordinary Americans. Nowhere has this manifested more than Klain’s prolific Twitter presence. Last October, Klain caused a headache for the administration when he retweeted a post that dismissed rising inflation and supply chain issues as “high-class” problems, something which even liberal outlets like CNN questioned. Klain has also repeatedly shared false or misleading claims about the administration’s record on the economy and COVID-19 which have been easily debunked and led to grumblings among some staff that Klain’s use of Twitter is distracting from the White House’s overall messaging strategy.

Klain has also come up short in regard to delivering on Biden’s policy priorities. When Biden hired Klain, the President-elect specifically noted his “capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum.” But once in the job, Klain failed to build any sort of rapport between the White House and Republican Members of Congress, a fact that has doomed large portions of Biden’s domestic agenda. Even Democrats have complained about Klain’s handling of the job, saying that he has too often acceded to the demands of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, something which has deeply alienated Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

However, given Klain’s record over more than a decade in the top echelon of Democratic politics, it should perhaps be unsurprising that he has failed to rise to the task. When Klain was tapped to be Biden’s Chief of Staff shortly after the 2020 election, many in the mainstream media pointed to his involvement in the Obama administration’s response to the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009 and as Barack Obama’s “Ebola Czar” in 2014, claiming that these experiences had prepared Klain to advise Biden on how to lead the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that analysis overlooked Klain’s actual performance during those crises, which was hardly exemplary. On Swine Flu, Klain himself said that it was “purely a fortuity” that the virus wasn’t “one of the great mass casualty events in American history,” and that the fact that the virus did not become a COVID-19-level disaster “had nothing to do with us doing anything right. It just had to do with luck.” Klain later walked back the comments and claimed that he was only referring to the Obama administration’s failures to produce a vaccine, but only after backlash from other former Obama staffers.

On Ebola, the New York Post slammed Klain as essentially “invisible” in his role as Obama’s point person handling the government’s response, and the administration’s messaging strategy often seemed haphazard at best and nonexistent at worst. Again, the country seemed to emerge largely unscathed thanks to the simple fact that the virus was not that transmissible. It was perhaps predictable, then, that Klain would once again prove incapable of developing a strategy to combat a pandemic when it came to COVID-19, but this time the results were far more catastrophic, with more Americans dying in 2021 than 2020, even with the vaccines inherited from the Trump administration.

If media reports are accurate, White House adviser Anita Dunn is the odds-on favorite to replace Klain when he finally does depart. The younger and seemingly popular Dunn may or may not prove a more skilled operator. But no matter who occupies the role, they’ll likely face many of the same problems as Klain – after all, the buck ultimately doesn’t stop with them, but just a few yards down the hall with the man in the Oval Office.

Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on Twitter @Shane_Harris_

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joe mchugh
joe mchugh
2 years ago

OK, one of Joe Biden’s puppeteers is in trouble. Let me show you my sad face.

PaulE
PaulE
2 years ago

Klain and Susan Rice were brought in to run the day-to-day operation of the White House and ensure that a continuation of Obama’s previous policies were the centerpiece of the so-called Biden administration on behalf the same people that controlled and directed the Obama administration earlier. Both have largely succeeded at their jobs in that respect. What we have today is essentially the 3rd term of Obama, which is what we would have had if Hillary had been elected in 2016. Instead the country was given a 4 year reprieve from our current pain by the election of Donald Trump and we enjoyed a sort of national revival. Now with the left firmly back in control, the country has quickly deteriorated across the board to reflect the policies and views of a nation once again in managed decline.

Whether Klain stays or leaves is truly immaterial at the end of the day, as he will simply be replaced by someone who will continue to institute the exact same set of destructive policies as being implemented today. Nothing of substance will have changed in the slightest, as Dunn or anyone else given the role will simply be following the same set of instructions as her predecessor.

Westhus
Westhus
2 years ago

I can’t stand Klain, or any of the other Leftists in this Admin.

Gerald Hallman
Gerald Hallman
2 years ago

The sacrifice of a staffer to save the president would be just a hopeless gesture from a dysfunctional administration. The reality of the problems facing the American public cannot be solved by a gesture unrecognizable by most citizens and would just add one more point to the lower polls. If the entire administration left that would give a glimmer of hope to Americans and the first step will be this November when changes can start.

CoNMTX
CoNMTX
2 years ago

Does it make the slightest bit of difference who’s making up the lies? No. Marxist/Globalists are like spark plugs. Pull one out, plug in another. They’re all the same, just Godless, lying Marxists bent on the destruction of America.

Phyl
Phyl
2 years ago

They could fire the entire cabinet but as long as bozo Joe is in office, it will be a colossal failure.

John Shepherd
John Shepherd
2 years ago

Dems started every one of these disasters on purpose. If they REALLY wanted to fix this, thye would reverse everything they’ve done, including collecting up the 5M? illegals they let in and get our Ukraine $ back. War is around the corner, kids.

Robert
Robert
2 years ago

Meaningless “poll” numbers are not about cognitive failures. The “polls”, if they are in fact any real indication of his job performance, should realistically be near a zero approval rating. That would realistically reflect this power grabbing admins utterly horrible decision making ability and their America last agenda. Americans need to wake up to the profound destruction and future consequences this essentially communist party’s ideology is inflicting on this country.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
2 years ago

Hope so

Jeb
Jeb
2 years ago

I hope he is thrown under the bus. I hope that as a party there is implosion from within. Self destruction of the dem party works to benefit everyone.

tika
tika
2 years ago

if the dems are full-blown marxists Klain will Be Thrown Under the Bus to Save Biden.

Deploreable Sam
Deploreable Sam
2 years ago

So … Are we saying here that H IS the smartest guy jb knows??? LOL har har chortle…
Just can not make this stuff up!
Embarrassment? Na, couldn’t be. After all, the ADULTS are back.
More likely the DULTS are back.
Sorry people, I am done now. Had enough of this comedy hour for one day.
fjb etc etc

Barb304
Barb304
2 years ago

If this administration thinks throwing this man under the bus will help them I have no doubt they’ll kick his butt under the bus! Not that it will help them. They’re already sunk. GOD BLESS the USA

mark sligh sr
mark sligh sr
2 years ago

The main thing mentioned in this article is NOVEMBER people , the A-holes running this country still have months to work on putting this country and its people in RUIN and they are working hard at it every day even though we arent seeing near all of it on the media , I cant say it enough please go VOTE as soon as you can at least we can slow it down for the next 2 years ,,

Rachel
Rachel
2 years ago

If one looks at the Cabinet that Mr. Biden has put together, most of them have no experience in the area of which they have been assigned. Mr. Klain may be able to do a part of his job, but Mr. Biden has so many cognitive problems, it would be difficult to work with him. They all need to go.

Phoenix
Phoenix
2 years ago

Here is hoping that republicans actually are able and want to do something besides line their pockets

Here’s hoping that the democrats toss the looney progressives out of their party and are also sent to the electoral wilderness for 100 years

Here’s hoping that the damage to the country can be undone

Here’s hoping that at the power and scope of the executive branch can be trimmed way way way back it’s obvious it’s having a terrible effect on the economy

Here’s hoping that we can get rid of the fed and return to hard money a monetary rest is inevitable at this point and there is no need to keep anything from this one which has destroyed everything since 1913

Bob L.
Bob L.
2 years ago

I don’t think throwing anybody under the bus will save Biden’s credibility. He’s been/being used by the real people running the show and is expendable as is Harris when the need arises. Poor old Joe thinks he’s going to have a positive legacy when he leaves “office”, little does he realize what that legacy will be when they are through with him.

charlesw04
charlesw04
2 years ago

This looser administration will throw him under the buss just as quickly as they will hang the usurper in chief out to dry even though he’s not the one really in control he will take the heat.

BwaHa
BwaHa
2 years ago

Biden’s too darned senile and self serving to be driving the bus. We’re better off with biden under the bus! IMHO

MAGA2024! TRUMP2024!
FJB! LET’S GO BRANDON!

June Vendetti
June Vendetti
2 years ago

This whole Admin is a joke. They need to do a 360⁰ turn in order to redeem themselves; but I’m not counting on that to happen, unfortunately.

James J
James J
2 years ago

biden and his whole administration should all be led out to the rose garden and hung for treason.. we are being Invaded by Foreign Enemies armed with fentanyl that the Communist Chinks are giving to the Mexican Cartels to Murder Americans. While they are being Bused, Flown, Trained, all over the United States.. Traitor Biden and his Staff of Fools are to Protect the United States and American Citizens. NOT Open Borders.. FJB.. Remove EVERY democrat .. plus Tiny Tim toni fauci

Becky
Becky
2 years ago

It is hilarious to watch this party of hardcore Communists try to get out from under what THEY have caused. It doesn’t matter what these destructive America-haters try to do to offput the blame.
There is only one thing that will console a good portion of the electorate at this point: to see every single one of these Treasonous and Seditious vermin hanging from scaffolds.

Daniel Dobos
Daniel Dobos
2 years ago

Others have posted that klaim makes bidumb seem smart

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

Don’t be silly. Biden doesn’t make ANY decisions. Biden will be tossed under the bus or be infected with the virus to end his Presidency and so that they can call him a hero.

Andrew P
Andrew P
2 years ago

Throwing Klain under the bus won’t help Biden at all. If anything, it will make things worse.That doesn’t mean they won’t do it though, because it is a ship of fools led by idiots. Once Biden finally dies of a new COVID strain or has a stroke, we will find out how incompetent Kamala Harris is. I’m sure she will not be an improvement over Dementia Joe. The question is how much worse will she be?

BAE
BAE
2 years ago

Nothing can change the way we think about Joe Biden. He is a woke joke to the American taxpayers. He cares about the elites and looks down on the workers. He is a self-serving fool and our president!

Larry Pierson
Larry Pierson
2 years ago

The blame game has begun in ernest as everyone is trying to duck responsibility for sky high inflation, food, fuel, and other shortages issues (especially baby formula), an incoherent foreign policy, and the problems caused by an open border.

Sean Richman
Sean Richman
2 years ago

The problems in our caused by obama,biden,soros and the rest of the liberal,leftist,socialist democRATS.Their blame game totally”SUCKS”.

Hal
Hal
2 years ago

I don’t believe throwing any DumbocRat under the bus will help the DumbocRats win the next election. I truly sense that a lot of sleeper voters finally got the picture of what the DumbocRats have to offer the Nation and are very displeased. If Joe Biden is the best leadership this country can elect … the Nation may as well break up in to states again …. they will fare better, but that would not be the wisest solution and it will NOT happen.

KJHanover
KJHanover
2 years ago

Nothing can save Biden’s bad joke of a fraudulent presidency.

Philip Hammersley
Philip Hammersley
2 years ago

Replacing Klain with another reprobate Marxist will not change anything. If one picks employees from a pool of corrupt, arrogant Marxists, one is just as “good” (or bad) as another!

Mike B.
Mike B.
2 years ago

No one can take responsibility in this administration. Blaming, and pointing fingers constantly. Whoever takes that position will most likely ~~~~ it up . It’s disaster after disaster.

Ray.A
Ray.A
2 years ago

I really don’t care. He is a lying foul. As untrustworthy as the rest of the Biden debacle. Un-American as can be. And this dim wit was on our dime for all these years. What, nobody in Delaware to vote for. As bad as the idiots in Rhode Island.

Sgt Pops
Sgt Pops
2 years ago

Does it even matter? One nutcase leaves and another steps in to take his place. It only goes from bad to worse — as evidence look at the Psaki replacement.

Amacer
Amacer
2 years ago

It may not be within my lifetime for me to ever support any Democrat or Democrat assigned official. This party has shown that their wickedness knows no bounds. It is my fervent wish that this wicked political party goes extinct.

Ed
Ed
2 years ago

The ONLY hope of changing the public perception of D.C. is for ALL democrats to be forcibly removed from office, most to serve life without parole prison terms, many to have that term artificially shortened!

Kelly
Kelly
2 years ago

Why not? They throw everyone else under the bus!

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
2 years ago

Why would he do that when everything is going according to plan? What we call “destroying” they call the FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMING OF AMERICA. Welcome to the New Normal!

Klara
Klara
2 years ago

Sounds like they’re eating themselves up!
Huh, LET EM HAVE IT!
They are going soooooo far left that even they can’t stop their own destruction.

TRUMP 2024

Governor Tim Walz giving a speech at a Podium in September 2024
Fema.gov Disasters USA Government home page under magnifying glass.
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