The mainstream media, which spent most of 2020 and 2021 praising Joe Biden as the only hope for America, is becoming increasingly unsympathetic toward an increasingly unpopular president.
On Saturday, The New York Times published a damning article that called President Biden “an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024” because of his inability to deliver on his campaign promises, his old age, and because under his leadership, the nation “is completely falling apart.” That view is shared by “dozens of frustrated Democratic officials, members of Congress and voters,” according to the report.
The bitter dissatisfaction with Joe Biden, who allegedly broke a popular vote record in 2020 by receiving the most votes of any presidential candidate in American history, is becoming palpable “coast to coast”:
As the challenges facing the nation mount and fatigued base voters show low enthusiasm, Democrats in union meetings, the back rooms of Capitol Hill and party gatherings from coast to coast are quietly worrying about Mr. Biden’s leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time.
Interviews with nearly 50 Democratic officials, from county leaders to members of Congress, as well as with disappointed voters who backed Mr. Biden in 2020, reveal a party alarmed about Republicans’ rising strength and extraordinarily pessimistic about an immediate path forward.
That happened due to “Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda” and his apparent inability “to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing.”
Since the country is anything but on the “right track,” the president would be wise to announce he wouldn’t seek reelection shortly after the midterms, according to a Democratic National Committee member from Miami, Steve Simeonidis, who was quoted in the report.
The article also depicted the January 6 Committee hearing as “perhaps the last, best chance before the midterms to break through with persuadable swing voters who have been more focused on inflation and gas prices.”
In other words, the hearing is not having the anticipated impact in distracting swing voters from pressing economic issues and rallying them around anti-Trump sentiment.
The Times report criticized Biden for the “repeated failures of his administration to pass big-ticket legislation on signature Democratic issues” and “sagging approval ratings and a party that, as much as anything, seems to feel sorry for him.”
At the same time, a “series of calamities” is strongly associated with the Biden administration, which the “Democratic leaders struggling to explain away.” That includes the following:
inflation rates unseen in four decades, surging gas prices, a lingering pandemic, a spate of mass shootings, a Supreme Court poised to end the federal right to an abortion, and key congressional Democrats’ refusal to muscle through the president’s Build Back Better agenda or an expansion of voting rights.
The article points out that Biden’s age has manifested itself in his “reputation for gaffes” that “repeatedly rattled global diplomacy,” and noted his lack of transparency with the press.
“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns, David Axelrod, told the outlet.
Vice President Kamala Harris is painted in the article as an unlikely successor to Biden: “Few Democrats interviewed expect that high-profile leaders with White House ambitions would defer to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has had a series of political hiccups of her own in office.”
“Many of [the Democratic leaders] are eyeing 2024 hoping for some sort of idealized nominee — somebody who isn’t Mr. Biden or Ms. Harris,” the piece noted.
Since the Democratic establishment has not been renewing itself with fresh blood, there is not much left for them but to rely on the old cadre:
Democrats mentioned a host of other figures who lost to Mr. Biden in the 2020 primary: Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman who is now running for Texas governor, among others.
The article concludes in a closing section titled “Regret and Anxiety” by quoting DNC member Shelia Huggins, who said that “Democrats need fresh, bold leadership for the 2024 presidential race,” and that “That can’t be Biden.”
Last week, USA Today published a harsh piece written by Brett Bruen, a top official during the Obama administration, who said that Biden “needs to rest” because his “offhanded comments” and “outdated” perception of foreign affairs undermine both his presidency and U.S. “standing” on the global stage.
The president’s approval rating continues to sink, hitting a new low last week. According to a Wednesday poll by Quinnipiac University, Biden’s overall job approval among registered voters was just 33 percent, and 22 percent among those aged 18-34. The Democrats’ “traditional” voters are also growing dissatisfied with the president, with only 24 percent of Hispanic voters and 49 percent of black voters saying that Biden does a good job.
Across all major polls, Biden’s approval rating has sunk from May 18 to June 12 to 39.4 percent, according to RealClear Politics.
