The Trump Administration’s Blame Game
The Trump administration found itself mired in a self-inflicted crisis, and President Trump quickly identified a scapegoat. It was a Wednesday — just two days into what would be dubbed Signalgate — when President Trump addressed reporters from the iconic Resolute Desk. In his remarks, he pointed a finger at none other than Joseph R. Biden Jr., asserting that the true architect behind the debacle was the current president.
“Joe Biden should have initiated this military action against Yemen,” Mr. Trump proclaimed. “This responsibility should have fallen on Joe Biden’s shoulders, but it didn’t.” This assertion was certainly a unique interpretation of the circumstances. Mr. Trump appeared to imply that had Mr. Biden taken the initiative to execute the strike against the Houthis, then his own defense secretary would not have found himself in the awkward position of sharing attack plans in a group chat that was subsequently leaked to The Atlantic’s editor in chief.
Yet, this was a response that felt entirely predictable coming from Mr. Trump. By this stage in his presidency, it had become a recurring theme that Mr. Biden would be held accountable for virtually every issue that arose. It seemed there was no matter too trivial that Mr. Trump wouldn’t attempt to link back to his predecessor.
In fact, an analysis conducted by The New York Times revealed that during the first 50 days of his presidency, Mr. Trump mentioned “Biden” an astonishing average of 6.32 times per day. This term ranked among his most frequently used phrases, even surpassing “America” in frequency during speeches. Such statistics underscore the extent to which the former president has woven his predecessor’s name into the narrative of his administration’s challenges.
