The Buck Stops With Somebody | RealClearPolitics
Asked by NBC s Kristin Welker whether he bore any responsibility for the CDC s botched and tardy rollout of a coronavirus test, Trump replied, No, I don t take responsibility at all. He then added mysteriously, We were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time.
In a subsequent tweet, Trump amplified, President Obama made changes that only complicated matters further.
So, for Trump, the buck stopped with Obama. Joe Biden has returned the favor in the wake of the awful Afghanistan pullout. As things started to unravel, the 46th president said it was the 45th who had left the Taliban in the strongest military position since 2001.
Biden went on to blame many others (though never himself) while adding a new wrinkle to the presidential avoid-the-blame game. This disaster wasn t my fault, he said, but didn t it all turn out great? He was talking about the airlift efforts, and in evaluating himself, this president likes to grade on the curve. The mission, Biden proclaimed, was an extraordinary success.