On Friday, the Biden-Harris administration celebrated President Joe Biden's second year in office. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris tweeting out a cringeworthy video claiming "It's been an incredible two years" as Harris trips over herself to sing Biden's praises while he tries to seem humble as the two of them go on to mention various supposed accomplishments and successes. The video concludes with Biden and Harris talking over each other to claim a sense of "momentum," but that's not exactly the case given what the polls are telling us.
It’s been an incredible two years. pic.twitter.com/AYyUyhANXa
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 20, 2023
Biden and Harris weren't the only ones to hit the American people over the head with how successful they believe their administration has been. In addition to retweeting the video, the DNC also tweeted out pictures from the 2020 inauguration, claiming "it's been a great two years."
It’s been a great two years. pic.twitter.com/zy0VHYN6RC
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) January 20, 2023
One of those photos includes a picture of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom Biden nominated because of her race and sex, fulfilling a campaign promise to nominate back women. Justice Jackson's nomination is mentioned in the video above, with Harris asking "and how about the fact that there is now a name that the world knows, and the name is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson."
Such a question is something of an amusing one, given that Biden himself couldn't pronounce the justice's name earlier in the week while speaking at an event.
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Frlohgf4bH
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) January 16, 2023
In addition to numerous tweets on Friday, the DNC also sent out an "ICYMI" press release, highlighting "Praise for Biden-Harris Accomplishments Two Years In." The sources heaping such "praise" could hardly be more surprising. It's not at all surprising that MSNBC's Joe Scarborough would be among them, or Salon's Robert S. McElvaine, The Atlantic's Franklin Foer, or David Brooks writing for The New York Times. Not only are these particularly liberal outlets, but a lot of these pieces are commentary or opinion pieces.
The American people don't seem to be so excited.
As of January 19, Biden currently has a 42.9 approval rating according to RealClearPolitics (RCP), while 52.8 percent disapprove. Among those recent polls, as highlighted by Byron York at the Washington Examiner, is a Quinnipiac poll which shows Biden with a 38 percent approval rating among registered voters, while 53 percent disapprove. Among adults, it's slightly worse, with a 36 percent approval rating.
Among registered voters, the only demographics where a majority support the president include 81 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of white voters with a 4-year college degree, and 63 percent of black voters.
The poll was conducted January 11-15 with 1,659 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. Among the 1,466 registered voters, the margin of error was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
An area that Biden and the Democrats particularly like to focus on is how supposedly well they've done when it comes to the economy. RCP shows Biden with a 38.3 percent approval rating on the economy while 58.5 percent disapprove. That Quinnipiac poll mentioned above has Biden at a 36 percent approval among voters and 34 percent among adults, while 60 percent of voters and 61 percent of adults disapprove.
We're building an economy that benefits folks in the heartland and in our cities – where people used to move out, now they’re moving back in.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 20, 2023
.@POTUS and I took office during the worst economic crisis in a generation. Two years, later our economic plan is working.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 20, 2023
- 11 million new jobs created
- 10 million total new businesses created
- Lowest unemployment in 50 years
—Strongest 2 years for job growth on record
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) January 20, 2023
—Unemployment matching 50-year low
—Annual inflation is down for the past six months in a row
The Biden-Harris administration is transforming our economy.
Another tweet from the DNC says that this administration "is transforming our economy," which is certainly one way to put it. It's also particularly rich, in a gaslighting and tone deaf manner, that the tweet would mention inflation. Under the Biden administration, inflation has reached a four-decade high. This is in part due to the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which Biden and congressional Democrats not only rammed through, but continue to celebrate despite warnings from Democratic economists like Larry Summers.
Not only is Biden polling poorly overall, he's polling particularly poorly when it comes to the economy. RCP currently has him with a 38.3 approval rating on the issue while 58.5 percent disapprove. All these months later, it still bears reminding that back in July, just 1 percent of adults surveyed for a CNBC poll thought the economy was in an "excellent" shape.
Further, economists increasingly believe we're headed for a recession. A Bloomberg survey of economists from last December showed a 70 percent change of a recession in 2023. This is a matter the Biden administration, including Biden himself, has dismissed.
Of the issues that RCP includes, Biden only fares more poorly on inflation, with a 34.0 percent approval rating while 63.5 percent disapprove, and on immigration, where 34.2 percent approve while 61.0 percent disapprove.
And yet through all of this, Biden is still looking likely to announce he will run for reelection, which is looking to be "not long after" after the State of the Union address, according to a Thursday report from CBS News. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last Friday formally invited Biden to give the address on February 7, 2023.
