Did the White House really save Christmas?

“As the New York Times said today, Christmas gifts are arriving on time this year,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki declared Wednesday. “Good news. We’ve saved Christmas, and that is because President Biden recognized this challenge early.”

They saved Christmas! That was no small feat for the infamous Grinch, who needed the strength of ten grinches plus two to lift his sleigh full of stolen presents off the side of Mount Crumpit. Never mind the useless administration behind a barely cogent senior citizen who refused to acknowledge that Christmas was ever in peril.

Psaki is clearly trolling us; her tone was droll as she declared Biden the true savior of the holiday. But let’s take her claim seriously for a moment, as some are already on board with this messaging.

Biden “recognized this challenge early?” Never forget that Psaki derisively referred to concerns over shipping delays as the “tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.” Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg was on extended paternity leave with no replacement during the worst of the supply chain crisis. White House chief of staff Ron Klain retweeted an assertion that supply chain issues are a “high-class problem.” Biden himself suggested that Americans were not intelligent enough to “understand” the issue.

“If we were all going out and having lunch together and I said let’s ask whoever’s in the next table, no matter what restaurant we’re in, have them explain the supply chain to us. Do you think they’d understand what we’re talking about?” Biden asked.

As the New York Times described in the article that Psaki so generously cited, Americans hardly received their gifts on time due to rapid intervention from the Biden administration. Rather, sensing that there would be delays, Americans ordered their gifts early or shopped in-person, retailers ordered their merchandise earlier than usual, and delivery companies hired more workers to prepare for the onslaught. The Times article never mentions any policies that the Biden administration implemented to help gifts arrive before Christmas.

Then there are the other issues facing Americans this Christmas that the Biden administration has failed to address. Americans will pay 5.7 percent more for goods this year compared with last Christmas. This is the largest year-over-year consumer price increase since 1982. Gas prices are up more than a dollar compared with this time last year. Some Americans won’t be able to fly home for the holiday after more than 2,000 flights were canceled due to staff shortages wrought by overly onerous pandemic restrictions (airline staff members are required to quarantine for seven days after “close contact” with a Covid-positive individual, even if they don’t test positive themselves; others have been fired for refusing the vaccine). If you need a negative Covid test in order to travel or simply want to give your family peace of mind, good luck finding one. Americans are waiting in hours-long lines thanks to a test shortage, and Biden hasn’t yet signed the contract that will buy 500 million new tests for distribution.

The “Scrooges” were right — the White House did not save Christmas. Luckily for most Americans, the true reason for the season will always outshine whatever havoc an incompetent presidential administration may have wreaked on their holiday.