As Americans become more disillusioned with Biden's performance as President amid his failure to manage the Wuhan coronavirus, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and rising inflation, Joe Biden will travel to California next week to campaign for an embattled Gavin Newsom in the final week before voters decide the fate of their governor.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the trip during a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Tuesday morning as the President traveled to New York to survey storm damage wrought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Biden will go to California next week to support Gov. Newsom in his campaign against a recall, @PressSec tells @MarioDParker on Air Force One. Details of the trip are coming later today, she says.
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 7, 2021
Psaki said the trip would take place "early next week" and that additional details would be announced soon. The campaign trip reeks of desperation as the recall election will take place on September 14, and many Californians — nearly 5.9 million according to this tracker — have already voted by mail.
President Biden's job approval has been sinking deeper underwater, with polls from National Public Radio and ABC/The Washington Post last week showing him falling below 50 percent for job approval and dipping into the low 40s. Among independents, his job approval is in the 30s, suggesting Biden is not the kind of surrogate whose endorsement could swing those who may be leaning toward removing Newsom.
NEW POLL: President Biden's approval rating has fallen to just 43%, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds.
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) September 2, 2021
The decline is mostly due to independents — just 36% of them approve of the job Biden's doing, a 10-point drop since July. https://t.co/KrM4YBNUAL
“A substantial 44% think the withdrawal left the United States less safe from terrorism, while only 8% think the country is safer as a result.” https://t.co/b8yNCpGg1x
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) September 3, 2021
Polling on President Biden's handling of the Wuhan coronavirus and withdrawal from Afghanistan show even lower approval numbers. And while he still doesn't have a handle on either crisis — not to mention the supposedly temporary inflation that continues to be a tax on all Americans — he's off to California to supposedly lend his star power to Newsom as a last-ditch attempt to convince voters they should keep their governor in office.
Kevin Kiley, one of the GOP hopefuls on the recall ballot to replace Newsom, questioned the optics of Biden making a campaign swing out to California while Americans — including students from California — remain stranded in Afghanistan after being left behind by the Biden administration.
Why is Gavin Newsom begging Joe Biden to come campaign for him when California students remain trapped in Afghanistan?
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) September 3, 2021
Vice President Kamala Harris will also campaign for Newsom in the Bay Area Wednesday.
Biden to California "early next week" to campaign with @GavinNewsom ahead of the 9/14 recall election, per @PressSec. VP Harris is scheduled to campaign with Newsom this Wednesday in the Bay Area.
— Meredith Lee (@meredithllee) September 7, 2021