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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
A new poll shocked CNN panel members by showing that voters have a very low opinion of President Joe Biden on key issues leading up to the 2024 election.
Network host Dana Bash presided over the panel as they discussed a recent poll by Monmouth University that found Biden to have 28% support on the issue of inflation and 26% support on the issue of immigration.
A humanitarian catastrophe has developed at the U.S.-Mexico border due to an influx of migrants, and Biden has been the target of criticism from both Republican lawmakers and Democratic mayors of major cities. During a meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador this week, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed potential solutions to the influx of migrants.
“You look at the issues and how he fairs: infrastructure, jobs, climate change, inflation, immigration—he is now 26%. That is not good,” Bash told the panel.
CNN political analyst Seung Min Kim agreed, saying that Biden is under political pressure over the border, which may explain the administration’s recent trip to Mexico.
Kim added, “It’s not good at all. And I think that part of the trip yesterday to Mexico by senior Biden administration officials was obviously to have these diplomatic conversations but also to make the broader administration’s point that this is a regional issue that requires regional cooperation and trying to blunt the criticism from Republicans that you’re hearing over and over saying that these were Biden’s border policy that’s causing these numbers at the border. But that certainly doesn’t change the fact that he’s under considerable political pressure over immigration and that his administration is probably preparing to make some significant compromises on immigration next month.”
The panel went on to say that several major American city mayors, all Democrats, have banded together to call on the federal government to do more to help the influx of migrants coming from the south.
“That right there is the problem that Joe Biden has, right in a nutshell,” CNN’s Kasie Hunt noted. “For a long time this conversation was these, you know, red state mayors and governors are being alarmist. And, you know, we have to be, we have to focus on humanitarian issues here.”
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She added, “But this crisis has gotten worse, not better. And frankly, the strategy that these red state governors have had of sending a lot of these migrants up to blue states has worked from a political perspective. And it is very, very hard for these cities to absorb them. And, you know, the Biden team, I think, knows that. Or they wouldn’t be willing to make these concessions in these policy negotiations they’re having with Capitol Hill.”
White House officials say they are “deeply frustrated” with how the media has portrayed the polls, which show a negative picture of the Biden administration’s economic gains.
According to The Hill‘s reporting, “Someone in the Biden orbit also told The Hill part of the frustration is the disproportionate media focus on the polls that show Biden losing while ignoring polls that show him winning.”
Trump may have predicted the economy’s collapse under Biden’s administration, but inflation is falling, stock prices are soaring, and the unemployment rate is near “historic lows.” In addition, it seems like prices are going down after the pandemic.
However, per The Hill, economic progress is not getting the coverage needed to sway results in the polls.
A Biden official told The Hill that the lack of coverage is a “deep frustration.”
“One Biden ally said meetings have taken place because of ‘deep frustration’ over polls but that it did not reflect a panic over the president’s prospects,” The Hill reported.
A source from the Biden administration told The Hill that “the meetings are intended to discuss messaging based on his age and his accomplishments. There has been concern among his inner circle that the messaging has not been strong or consistent enough to break through with the public.”
But with the election still several months away, the Biden administration is brushing off polls as irrelevant.
A new Gallup poll shows that Biden’s approval rating for his job has risen to 39%, up from 37% in October and November.
On five separate occasions throughout his presidency, his approval rating fell below 40%.
According to Gallup, Biden’s performance is the worst among modern presidents running for reelection at this stage of their term. The president and First Lady Jill Biden are reportedly venting their frustrations to close associates about Biden’s dismal approval rating.
The Gallup poll found that Independents’ opinions of Biden have been more unpredictable than those of rank-and-file Republicans, whose ratings have been firmly in the single digits since August 2021.
There has been a seven-point increase in support for Biden this month, following a record-low 27% in November. At 78%, Biden’s approval rating among Democrats is marginally lower than 83% a month ago.
Among the seven presidents who have served at this point in their first terms, Biden has the lowest approval rating at 39%.
Except for Donald Trump (45%) and Barack Obama (43%), all of the other candidates had approval ratings above 50% in the year they sought reelection.
Even though Americans’ perceptions of the economy have improved slightly, when asked to identify the most pressing issue confronting the United States, the majority of respondents still cite inflation (12%) and the economy (14%).
Additionally, 16% of Americans rank immigration and the government as top concerns. Out of all the issues that Republicans have brought up, 37% rank immigration as the most pressing.
As he faces a challenging reelection campaign in 2024, Biden has the lowest job approval rating of any modern president. Even though there have been some encouraging signs regarding the economy and people are feeling more optimistic about it, it is still a major worry.
