Was there a polling bounce for President Biden after the State of the Union Address, perhaps aided by something akin to a rally-around-the-flag effect, amid Russia's war against an American ally? We explored that question a bit in recent days, looking at one or two surveys showing the president's standing improving, quickly contradicted by others that reflected the country's continued deep dissatisfaction. It's generally a best practice to watch polling averages, rather than invest too much in any single data set. Outliers can be misleading. So what story is the Real Clear Politics average of Biden's job approval numbers telling us? A very familiar story, at this point:
If there was a bounce, even an itty-bitty bounce, it's gone now. Biden job approval, RCP average: 41.5 approve, 53.5 disapprove. From @RealClearNews: https://t.co/68MeU1ximM pic.twitter.com/DFQxl8oRWP
— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 18, 2022
So yeah about that pivot pic.twitter.com/VzBeRZqTjx
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 18, 2022
You can see the red and black lines starting to converge just a little in recent days, then sharply diverging again as the latest few polls rolled into the average. Biden is back to where he's been, by and large, for quite some time: Deep underwater, with an approval around 41 percent, buffeted by clear majority disapproval (55 percent). One of the latest surveys contributing to this dismal picture comes from Monmouth University's pollster:
Monmouth finds Biden's approval deep underwater (39/54). Roughly half of Americans say the US is more divided now than when Biden took office, w/ just 15% saying we're more unified. Biden campaigned as a moderate uniter. He's not governed that way. National mood word cloud: pic.twitter.com/NF77sId7wu
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 18, 2022
That same survey shows the generic congressional ballot exactly tied, which historically is a pretty solid spot for the GOP. Of course, other polls show a Republican advantage, including a whopping 11-point lead in Rasmussen. That is, unsurprisingly, an outlier. The RCP average points to a more modest Republican lead on this metric, in the ballpark of four points. By the way – in light of recent developments, and amid the struggles of the president and his party – I can't help but wonder if the intrepid journalists in our news media will ask a barrage of pointed follow-ups about this:
Here’s Biden saying the incriminating emails on Hunter’s laptop were just "a smear campaign" and “a bunch of garbage" pic.twitter.com/K3Ojf3SyIg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 17, 2022
A New York Times report on Wednesday further confirmed the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s "laptop from Hell," despite several Biden administration personnel amplifying claims that the computer was "Russian disinfo" during the weeks leading up to the 2020 election. Ranging from President Biden’s press secretary to the "big guy" himself, the Biden administration did everything they could to discredit reports of the first son's laptop..."Yes, yes, yes," Biden responded to a question about if he believed the laptop was Russian disinformation in a press conference following his electoral win..."Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say," White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in October 2020, which was retweeted by now-Domestic Policy Council director Susan Rice.
Oh yes, this piece was widely cited at the time:
Another fun one. pic.twitter.com/Hr1BHIFMpD
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) March 17, 2022
As for those follow-up questions, don't count on them any time soon. Most of the intrepid journalists in our news media were actively part of the suppression of this story, for partisan and ideological reasons. To demand accountability for the censors would be to demand accountability for themselves:
Oh man, I forgot about this one. https://t.co/v9GAMxgFcE
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 18, 2022
Twitter blocked journalists from sharing an accurate NY Post story about Joe & Hunter Biden. And they all just sat there and let it happen. No broad platitudes about a dangerous time to tell the truth in America. Silence. Joe Biden himself called it Russian disinformation. https://t.co/60B6GBNAva
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 17, 2022
This thread is very illustrative and relatively comprehensive:
Now that NYT has confirmed many of the details of the scoop that got NY Post banned from Twitter, will we get any follow up from the outlets who helped bury the story? https://t.co/5jC4NW2dWF
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 17, 2022
The Biden campaign, the Democratic Party, most of the news media, and much of our Big Tech information overlords colluded to crush an accurate news story that was seen as unhelpful to their preferred partisan outcomes, days before a contested election. Many of these people had engaged in years of self-flagellation for covering Hillary Clinton's gross misconduct in the closing days of the last campaign, and they weren't about to make that "mistake again." At this point, that reality is as indisputable as it is disturbing. Will we finally get "now it can be revealed" reporting about the "Big Guy" circa 2025?
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