White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday was repeatedly confronted with polls that indicate the American people have grown disillusioned with the Biden administration.
During Monday’s press briefing, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre to explain why recent polls seem to contradict the White House’s assertion that President Biden helped Democrats achieve unexpected gains in the November midterms.
The reporter cited a recent NBC poll showing only 34% of Americans believe the president is honest in trustworthy, 32% are confident in his ability to handle a crisis, 31% believe Biden is competent and effective as president, 28% believe he has the necessary mental and physical health to be president, and a mere 23% believe he can unite the country.
As the poll notes, many of these scores are significantly down from when Biden first took office in January 2021.
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“Given all that, why are you so convinced that it was President Biden that caused the Democratic success in the midterms and that the Democrats had success in spite of the fact?” the reporter asked.
Jean-Pierre said Democrats won in the midterms because they ran on the Biden’s successes like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“If you hear the message that was coming out of Democrats during the midterms, it was that we were able to deliver … they used exactly what the president was able to do in order to get that success,” Jean-Pierre said. “If you think about all of the pieces of historic legislation that became law, that we did last year – again, the president led that.”
The exchange came amid the release of a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showing that just 37% of Democrats say they want President Biden to seek a second term – down from 52% in the weeks before last year’s midterm elections.
While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either. Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many believe the 80-year-old’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.