Ratings for Biden's Big Speech Are in and He Got Trounced by Trump

Katie Pavlich | April 29, 2021 3:45 PM

UPDATE: Updated numbers show Biden still came in way below Trump with viewers.

Joe Biden‘s first address to Congress garnered 22.6 million total TV viewers and 5.6 million adults 25-54 on 7 Nielsen-measured English broadcast & cable networks. That figure will increase after final Nielsen data (and data from the Spanish broadcasters) https://t.co/tHyw7vD5fP
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) April 29, 2021

***Original post***

The ratings for President Joe Biden's first Joint Address to Congress are in. Compared to President Donald Trump's first Joint Address, Biden got trounced in the ratings.

Biden's ratings just a fraction of Trump's.
37.2M - Trump 2020
46.8M - Trump 2019
46M - Trump 2018
48M - Trump 2017

11.6M - Biden 2021
https://t.co/Pbbmx9MILl
— John Ashbrook (@JohnAshbrook) April 29, 2021

Yikes indeed.

Wow. 11.6???? Yikes. https://t.co/CbQfDPq2B5
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) April 29, 2021

The activist media has been touting "massive approval" among Americans for Biden's speech since it concluded late last night.

85% approval of Biden speech https://t.co/vBq0AKaoDq
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) April 29, 2021

But there's a catch:

Only 18% Republican weighting sounds reasonable, yes?

LOL @CBSNews !

CBS's "85% Biden Speech Approval" Poll Quizzed Just 169 Republicans out of 1,000 Viewers. https://t.co/YU0Vrulrzo
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) April 29, 2021

Meanwhile, Biden's overall job approval is behind most of his predecessors.

As President Joe Biden approaches 100 days in office, his job approval ratings hover just above 50%, placing him behind almost all of his recent predecessors at the milestone traditionally marking the end of the beginning of U.S. presidential administrations.
Three months into the job and preparing to make his first address to a joint session of Congress, Biden is polling lower than any modern U.S. president at the same stage, except Gerald Ford and Donald Trump. Ford's early numbers were weighed down by his pardon of his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon. Trump entered office amid an unremitting torrent of allegations — since debunked — that his campaign had colluded with Russia to sway the outcome of the 2016 election.
The Real Clear Politics polling average shows Biden with approval ratings in the low 50s range and disapproval in the low 40s. The average approval rating for the past 14 presidents polled at this point in their terms is 66%, according to ABC.