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 The Blame Machine That Ate American Politics


There’s a superstition in American politics now — a reflex so automatic it fires before thought, before evidence, before even the slightest glance at a calendar. It’s the reflex to blame Joe Biden for everything. Not just the things a president might reasonably influence. Everything.
If a grocery store runs out of eggs, blame Biden.
If a hurricane hits Florida, blame Biden.
If a ship gets stuck in the Suez Canal, blame Biden.
If inflation spikes in Europe, blame Biden.
If a global pandemic disrupts supply chains, blame Biden.
If a war breaks out in a region Biden didn’t control, blame Biden.
If Trump gets indicted for his own actions, blame Biden.
It’s become a universal solvent — pour it on any problem, and it dissolves complexity, dissolves responsibility, dissolves the need to understand what actually happened. And this week, the reflex was louder than ever.

The Crime Wave That Wasn’t Biden’s

Trump spent the week insisting Biden “created a crime wave.” He said crime “exploded because of Biden’s policies.” He said, “the country was safe until Biden.” But the crime spike Trump talks about happened in 2020 — under Trump. It was the largest one‑year homicide increase in modern U.S. history. It happened during the pandemic’s peak social disruption. It happened months before Biden took office. And after Biden took office? Violent crime declined nationally. But the reflex doesn’t care about timelines.
It cares about emotional simplicity.

The Border Surge That Began Under Trump

Trump says Biden “opened the border,” “let terrorists in,” and “created chaos.” But border encounters surged in 2020 under Trump, driven by global spikes in migration. Biden inherited the trend. Biden kept many Trump policies in place. Biden added new restrictions.

Trump’s failure:

He never passed comprehensive immigration reform. That is the key. He never worked with Congress to pass any immigration reform. The Biden Administration worked with Congress to come up with immigration legislation that Trump had Johnson squash to gain an advantage during the election.


Trump’s blame: He now says Biden caused the very surge that started on Trump’s watch.



The Inflation That Started Before Biden

Trump says Biden “destroyed the economy” and “caused inflation.” But inflation began globally in 2020, during Trump’s presidency, because of:
• COVID supply chain collapse
• Factory shutdowns
• Shipping bottlenecks
• Global demand shocks
Because of the pandemic, every major economy saw the same spike.


Trump’s failure:
He left Biden a fractured economic landscape. I don’t know that Trump could have stopped it. Maybe if he had worked with the transition team, it might have lessened the blow.


Trump’s blame:
He now says Biden caused a worldwide inflation spike before Biden even took office.

The Afghanistan Withdrawal Trump Negotiated

This is one of my favorites. Trump says Biden “lost Afghanistan.” But Trump negotiated the withdrawal deal with the Taliban in 2020 — a deal that forced U.S. departure on a fixed timeline and released thousands of Taliban prisoners.


Trump’s failure:
He locked the U.S. into a weak agreement. He refused to work with the Biden transition team on the withdrawal that he negotiated.


Trump’s blame:
He now says Biden caused the collapse that flowed directly from Trump’s own deal. My problem is that people actually believe him.



The Legal Troubles Trump Created
Trump says Biden “ordered” the DOJ to prosecute him. But judges — including Trump‑appointed ones — have found no evidence of political direction. The DOJ’s special counsel system existed long before Biden. Biden stayed out of it.


Trump’s failure:
He committed actions that led to indictments. Biden is not to blame for Trump's criminal behavior.


Trump’s blame:
He now says Biden caused the consequences of Trump’s own choices.

The Real Problem: A Political Ecosystem Built on Evasion

The reflex to blame Biden for everything isn’t just Trump’s habit. It’s the operating system of an entire political ecosystem — media personalities, influencers, lawmakers, and loyalists who repeat the narrative until it becomes muscle memory. It works because it’s easy.
It’s easier to blame Biden than to explain global supply chains.
It’s easier to blame Biden than to admit Trump negotiated the Afghanistan withdrawal.
It’s easier to blame Biden than to acknowledge inflation was global.
It’s easier to blame Biden than to confront Trump’s own record.
It’s easier to blame Biden than to accept that some problems aren’t caused by the person you dislike.
The reflex is a shortcut — a way to avoid complexity, avoid accountability, and avoid the uncomfortable truth that reality is bigger than one man. But it is also a way of avoiding and fixing the problem. And it’s not just Trump who relies on it. It’s the entire chorus behind him — the minions who repeat his lines, the media figures who amplify them, the lawmakers who treat his grievances as gospel, the influencers who turn his excuses into content. Trump didn’t build this blame machine alone. He built it with help.

The Week That Proved the Pattern

This week was a perfect snapshot of the blame machine in action.
• Trump blamed Biden for crime that rose under Trump.
• Trump blamed Biden for border numbers that began under Trump.
• Trump blamed Biden for inflation that began under Trump.
• Trump blamed Biden for global conflicts Biden didn’t cause.
• Trump blamed Biden for Trump’s own indictments.
• And at the same time, Trump claimed credit for Biden’s infrastructure, Biden’s manufacturing boom, Biden’s veterans’ health care expansion, and Biden’s prescription drug reforms. Blame Biden for the bad. Steal Biden’s credit for the good. Repeat until supporters treat it as fact. It’s not analysis. It’s narrative engineering.

In the end, the real problem isn’t that Trump blames Biden for everything.
The real problem is that too many people let him. They repeat his lines.
They echo his excuses. They carry his grievances like a badge.
They turn his failures into Biden’s sins and his chaos into Biden’s burden.
Trump didn’t build this blame machine alone. He built it with a chorus — a loyal army of political arsonists who light fires and then insist Biden struck the match.

So let’s say it plainly: The messes Trump made are Trump’s.
The lies Trump tells are Trump’s. And the people who repeat them — his minions, his mouthpieces, his enablers — own them too. Because a country can survive a dishonest politician, what it cannot survive is a dishonest movement.

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