POMPEO: Mr. President, Americans Are Far Worse Off Than They Were Four Years Ago

Last night, President Biden delivered a partisan State of the Union address in an attempt to defend his Administration’s record and make the case for why he should be given another four years as America’s President. I encourage every American to ask the same question Ronald Reagan asked then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” No matter how President Biden tries to spin his Administration’s efforts, the answer to that question today is clear: The American people are far worse off now than they were four years ago.

Let’s start with our open southern border. Well over 7 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States on President Biden’s watch – more than the population of 36 of our states. As a result of more fentanyl crossing our open border than ever before, drug overdose deaths hit record highs in 2022. More than 20,000 Chinese nationals have entered the country illegally on President Biden’s watch. In 2023, a record 169 individuals on the terror watchlist were encountered on the southern border – a number that exceeded not only the prior year’s record-setting total (98) but the last six fiscal years combined. Who knows how many slipped through undetected? This is not the fault of Congress; it is the result of the Biden Administration choosing not to enforce law and order in our immigration process.

Embracing the worst instincts of socialist economics, Biden has been content to throw money at every economic problem his Administration has encountered. This has delivered consistent inflation and stagnant wage growth, imposing enormous costs on families across America. Biden’s vaunted “Inflation Reduction Act” and “American Rescue Plan” did little more than transfer massive amounts of wealth and subsidies to favored green-energy industries that produce negligible benefit for the average American. At the same time, President Biden has governed with marked hostility to the oil and gas industry – canceling the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, introducing burdensome regulations, and routinely canceling new drilling leases – making energy even more expensive and driving prices up further. This Administration is allergic to economic common sense, and its policies have set American families back significantly. Biden’s call to “tax the rich” is a tired, simplistic political slogan, not an economic vision that will get our flagging economy back on track.

Our national security is at risk under President Biden as well. Thanks to his Administration’s policies, progressive ideology has spread through the Pentagon and even into our service academies, dividing our military and making potential recruits think twice before signing up. After all, who would want to join a military force that consistently denigrates the very nation it exists to defend?  And who would want to risk their life and follow the orders of a Pentagon bureaucracy that treats them as an evil oppressor? America faces a shocking and deeply dangerous recruiting shortfall as a result: The Army recently announced that it was cutting its force by 24,000 just to account for this recruitment disaster. President Biden’s leadership is putting America at risk.

Finally, let’s look beyond our borders and face the facts: By favoring policies of appeasement and weakness, Biden has allowed the Trump Administration’s deterrence model to decay dangerously.  

President Biden began his remarks by trying to reinforce the need to send Ukraine aid. We cannot forget, though, that this war began on his watch, due to his failure to deter Vladimir Putin. It continues today because his Administration has failed to send Ukraine the weapons it needs to win, despite massive funding already from Congress. In his address, President Biden should have advocated for bipartisan funding solutions – like President Trump’s proposal to send aid to Ukraine as loans, not charity – but instead, he cast his own failures as being the fault of others. That isn’t leadership. 

President Biden also presented a plan for peace in the Middle East that is out of step with reality. Pushing a two-state solution won’t magically lead to peace in the region; it only rewards Hamas for its barbaric attacks on October 7th and empowers Iran. This Administration’s routine castigation of Israel, its casting of Saudi Arabia as a pariah state, and its pathetic groveling toward the Ayatollah have led to the terrible, ugly mess now unfolding in the region – a mess that has resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers. Only by deterring Iran and backing Israel fully can peace be achieved, a fact we proved in the Trump Administration by signing the Abraham Accords. 

And of course, the Chinese Communist Party has watched American power deteriorate under this Administration, and Xi Jinping has grown bolder in his threats against Taiwan as a result. Biden’s appeasement of the Taliban led to a botched, shameful retreat in Afghanistan that got 13 American soldiers killed. The Maduro regime is back to causing trouble in our own hemisphere.  These conflicts are not far away; a more dangerous world has had direct consequences for the American people. 

In every way that matters, Americans are far worse off due to Joe Biden’s leadership. The American people deserve better. They deserve a substantive vision that will deliver American greatness, not the partisan speech President Biden gave last night. This November, we should elect leaders that can deliver the same peace, prosperity, and strength that we were able to achieve in the Trump Administration.