On the eve of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Mark Levin warned, “We’re standing at the precipice and we’re looking into the abyss.”
“Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are being destroyed by the Democrat Party and the media and they want to destroy what’s left of this,” he said, holding up a copy of the Constitution. “We know this because Democrats have announced their intentions.”
Six months later, having watched the Biden administration’s determined efforts to transform the United States of America into a progressive utopian fantasy from the sidelines, he declared, “We are in the abyss.”
It wasn’t hyperbole—we were indeed trapped in the abyss.
The administration had thrown open the Southwest border, allowing unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants to flood into the U.S. Meanwhile, its unchecked spending had fueled inflation. On his first day in office, President Biden signed a stack of executive orders that squandered America’s energy independence, killed thousands of jobs, and sent energy prices soaring.
By July 2021, when Mark Levin delivered his memorable remarks, the country was already reeling. However, the worst was yet to come. The following month, Biden made what would prove to be the most catastrophic and pivotal mistake of his presidency: the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. While Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley fixated on domestic threats like climate change and white privilege, Biden handed Afghanistan back to the Taliban. This resulted in one of the most preventable, humiliating, and dangerous military defeats in U.S. history.
This fateful decision triggered a chain of events that have made the world a far more dangerous place. Heads of state and media outlets alike recognized that a political earthquake had occurred, with aftershocks destined to reshape the global balance of power for years to come. America’s humiliating military retreat profoundly and irrevocably destabilized the world order.
Though Biden tried to shift blame—pointing fingers at the ineffectiveness of the Afghan National Army and even former President Donald Trump—his responsibility was undeniable. His colossal display of weakness and abdication of leadership as the figurehead of the free world created a power vacuum. Sensing opportunity, the world’s tyrants quickly moved to exploit it.
Within months, Russian President Vladimir Putin began amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in preparation for his February 2022 invasion. Just before launching his “special military operation,” Putin held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the two declared a “friendship without limits.”
Furthermore, in his eagerness to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, President Barack Obama’s flawed nuclear deal with Iran, Biden empowered yet another authoritarian regime. On October 7, that regime demonstrated its influence in one of the most depraved acts of evil in modern memory.
Additionally, in September 2021, Biden announced his highly controversial and arguably unconstitutional national vaccine mandate.
In a remarkably short time, his administration’s misguided policies had left America weakened on the world stage and set on a troubling path toward one-party rule.
The president’s approval rating plunged to historic lows following his disastrous handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including his shameful decision to leave Americans behind. It never recovered.
Today, Biden is the subject of ridicule among world leaders who surely must marvel that the U.S. president appears senile. Although his aides have gone to great lengths to hide his decline from the public, signs of his condition were obvious during the 2020 election cycle.
Weeks after Biden took office, Sky News host Cory Bernardi told viewers the only thing worse than Biden’s mental condition is the extent to which the mainstream media covers it up. He said, “Never before has the leader of the Free World been so cognitively compromised. … It’s clear to me at the least that U.S. President Joe Biden is struggling with dementia and is clearly not up to the task he’s been sworn in to do.”
Biden’s presidency, marked by corruption and abuse of power, has been a four-year nightmare for many Americans. His administration’s relentless pursuit of one-party rule and insatiable appetite for power and control have inflicted untold damage on our once-great nation.
However, just as Biden famously sat down on his first day in office with a stack of executive orders aimed at dismantling his predecessor’s policies, the Trump transition team has prepared a Day One blitz of their own — designed to instantly set America on an upward trajectory. While undoing the destruction wrought by the Biden administration will take time, I anticipate a swift and decisive “V-shaped” recovery.
In fact, America’s return to normalcy arguably began the moment Trump secured victory. From a global perspective, adversaries quickly recognized that a strong, unpredictable, and bold leader—occasionally ruthless—would soon replace the feeble and ineffectual figure currently occupying the White House.
Things will be very different the second time around. Trump’s unfamiliarity with Washington’s inner workings left him unprepared for the injustices he faced during his first campaign and presidency. It’s fair to say he was naive, taking advice from those who sought his failure and placing trust in the wrong people.
Yet, despite relentless attempts by Democrats to destroy him—through impeachments, indictments, and slander—Trump remains standing, stronger and wiser.
In just two weeks, he will return to Washington with his eyes wide open, surrounded by a trusted team. This time, he is ready to take decisive action, including purging the leadership of federal agencies that undermined him during his first term and weaponized the system against him after he left office.
At a September Fox News town hall, Trump was asked what he had learned from his first term in office.
He replied, “My administration was hit with weaponization… all of the different Russia, Russia, Russia hoaxes.”
He added, “The most important thing I found—and this applies in business too—is that we must get the right people. I didn’t know much about Washington. I’d only been there 17 times in my life. But I got to know them the hard way. Now, I know the good ones, the bad ones, the weak ones, the smart ones, and the dumb ones. I know them all.”
Trump emphasized, “The bottom line is to get the right people. If you put the right individuals and teams at the heads of these massive agencies, you’ll achieve tremendous success. And now, I know these people better than anyone.”
This time, Trump will harbor no illusions—and that’s crucial because America needs his leadership now more than ever.
We have already begun our climb out of the abyss.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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