NBC political director Chuck Todd said Sunday that President Joe Biden appeared to be facing down “pretty big credibility crisis.”
Todd spoke with fellow MSNBC host Willie Geist on “Sunday Today” to discuss the political news of the day, from the growing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border to reports confirming that a U.S. drone strike had killed an Afghan aid worker and his family rather than the intended ISIS-K operators. (RELATED: ‘We Were So Unprepared’: Chuck Todd Says Afghanistan Withdrawal Makes Biden Look Less Competent)
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Geist mentioned those issues along with the FDA’s announcement recommending COVID-19 booster shots for only those at high risk or over 65, despite Biden’s plan to make boosters available for everyone by September.
“How is the White House managing all this, and what do you expect to hear from the president at the U.N. on Tuesday?” Geist asked.
“I think he’s got a pretty big credibility crisis on his hands. Because all of these problems, in some ways, showed up after he said something basically the exact opposite,” Todd replied.
“Afghanistan withdrawal wasn’t going to be messy,” Todd continued. “This wasn’t going to look like Saigon. The booster shots, he came out and essentially said eight months, and even indicated maybe we should start it as soon as five months. Now we’re not sure if anybody under 65 is going to get a booster shot.”
Todd then pivoted to address the border, saying that although it had certainly been an issue that spanned multiple administrations, it did not appear to be getting any better under the Biden administration’s policies.
“We can talk about the border problems say they’re years in the making, but it’s pretty clear we have a bigger problem now than we’ve had in years. And this is a — these policies have turned into becoming a magnet,” Todd added.
Todd went on to say that Biden had his work cut out for him going into Tuesday’s speech before the United Nations, noting that it wasn’t just the U.S. looking at him for competent and stable leadership.
“He’s got a lot of work to do. The U.N. speech, he has credibility issues on the world stage. To say make sure that people still view America as a — not just a stable democracy, but a competent leader of the free world right now,” he explained.