When asked about his latest approval rating number from USA Today/Suffolk, which sits at a thorny 38%, President Biden shrugged off the results and basically explained why his presidency has been a failure up this point. Biden blamed the low numbers on anxiety over Covid and rising gas prices, an explanation that probably makes sense when put into context. The average price of gasoline is still skyrocketing around the country, propelled mainly by Biden’s anti-petroleum policies and ongoing decisions to close pipelines and stifle domestic supplies. On Covid, yes, people are anxious, probably because breakthrough cases among the vaccinated continue to be a problem, and the government is now in the business of mandating vaccines or leaving people unemployed if they make the wrong decision.
Whichever way you want to slice it, Biden’s numbers keep falling even though week to week we ask every time whether he’s hit the floor. Apparently not, since an embarrassing 38% approval is a new low:
President Biden brushed off his lagging poll numbers during an interview Monday with a Cincinnati, Ohio, TV station, saying he did not run for the country’s top office because of the polls.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll taken Wednesday through Friday saw Biden’s approval rating drop to a new low of 38% – just one year before the 2022 midterm elections. At least 58% of Americans also believe Biden hasn’t paid enough attention to the most important problems in the U.S., according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Kyle Inskeep of Cincinnati’s WKRC-TV asked Biden whether he needed to recalibrate some of his administration’s priorities as he approaches one year in office.
The other poll mentioned above, that 58% of the country says the Biden administration is not focused on the most important challenges facing the country, lines up perfectly with Biden’s terrible approval numbers. The two are entirely related.
It’s worth noting it was a local TV news reporter posing these questions. National reporters, aside from Peter Doocy of Fox News, would never dare ask a difficult question to a Democrat president.
Biden’s explanations are spot on, but he’s ignoring his primary role in causing the problems he’s pointing out:
Biden contended that his previous recovery efforts, current legislation, and his Build Back Better plan would have a significant impact on ordinary Americans, “like the households I came from.”
“I don’t think presidents should be deciding what to do about … look … a lot of people are worried. Think about this. Look what 750,000 people have died because of COVID. The psychological scars that has put on so many people. Schools have not been open because of COVID,” Biden said. “We’re in a situation where there’s a lot, a lot, of anxiety. Gas prices are up, exceedingly high … that’s why I have the attorney general taking a look at whether or not these gas companies are gouging people.”
Same playbook, attack the oil companies and accuse them of price gouging while you cut off the domestic supply and cancel pipelines. Some voters will digest this and run with it. Biden’s not a bad president, it’s the oil companies screwing everyone! Those voters are called willfully ignorant.
Aren’t these the same gas companies that Biden has been trying to work with to address issues of production? Oh, right, those same oil companies he’s now accusing of price gouging, the ones he was working with a month ago to help control costs. How’s that going? Not well, apparently, since it was disclosed at that time the Biden administration has no cabinet-level official with any familiarity of how the oil markets work. They’re mainly focused on racist bridges.
Among other findings in the latest USA Today/Suffolk numbers:
- Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, say Biden has done a worse job as president than they expected, including 16% of those who voted for him. Independents, by 7-1 (44%-6%), say he’s done worse, not better, than they expected.
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans, 64%, say they don’t want Biden to run for a second term in 2024. That includes 28% of Democrats. Opposition to Trump running for another term in 2024 stands at 58%, including 24% of Republicans.
- Vice President Kamala Harris’ approval rating is 28% – even worse than Biden’s. The poll shows that 51% disapprove of the job she’s doing. One in 5, 21%, are undecided.
Those are some nasty data points. For Vice President Kamala Harris, imagine her sitting across the table from the consultants in Office Space. “What would you say you do here?”
Kamala Harris doesn’t have an answer for that question. She’s a tainted fixture in a failing administration. A depreciating asset among a group of assets depreciating at slower rates. By the time Harris is ready to run as Biden’s successor, her approval among her own party will be locked in the mid-40s and she’ll probably take a pass.
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