WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's virtual meeting Wednesday with industry executives in the South Court Auditorium, a soundstage in the hulking office building adjacent to the White House, was held to highlight the administration's response to the ongoing infant formula shortage.
But it backfired. The scripted event ended up highlighting just how slow the White House was to recognize the problem and underscoring persistent questions about how such a veteran administration has mismanaged major crises, not to mention the president's public appearances.
Whether it is the last-minute scramble to avoid a diplomatically embarrassing boycott at next week's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles or its faulty projections about inflation and struggles to control rising costs, the administration's rocky responses to various challenges have given rise to new doubts about Biden's promise to restore competency and stability to government.
