President Joe Biden is reportedly frustrated with his poll numbers hovering near those of his predecessor and a feeling that he just cannot âcatch a breakâ amid a series of crises.
NBC News published a story Tuesday detailing frustrations on the part of the president stemming from âa rolling series of calamities.â
âCrises have piled up in ways that have at times made the Biden White House look flat-footed: record inflation, high gas prices, a rise in Covid case numbers â and now a Texas school massacre that is one more horrific reminder that he has been unable to get Congress to pass legislation to curb gun violence. Democratic leaders are at a loss about how he can revive his prospects by November, when midterm elections may cost his party control of Congress,â it noted.
And amid the series of crises, the presidentâs poll numbers have plunged.
According to FiveThirtyEightâs approval rating tracker as of Tuesday morning, 40.8% of Americans approve of Bidenâs job performance, while 54% disapprove.
The presidentâs approval rating hovered above 50% until August 2021 amid the chaotic exit from Afghanistan.
Since then, his poll numbers have not recovered.
âBiden is rattled by his sinking approval ratings and is looking to regain votersâ confidence that he can provide the sure-handed leadership he promised during the campaign,people close to the president say,â NBC reports.
One source close to the White House said, âHeâs now lower than Trump, and heâs really twisted about it.â

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told the outlet, âI donât know whatâs required here.â
âBut I do know the poll numbers have been stuck where they are for far too long,â he added.
There is speculation that there could be a staff shakeup in the West Wing. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has reportedly discussed leaving the job.
The story explains, âAmid a rolling series of calamities, Bidenâs feeling lately is that he just canât catch a break. âBiden is frustrated. If itâs not one thing, itâs another,â said a person close to the president.â
âBiden is annoyed that he wasnât alerted sooner about the baby formula shortage and that he got his first briefing in the past month, even though the crisis had long been in the making. (The White House didnât specify when Biden got his first briefing on the formula shortage.),â it added.
Additionally, he is âunhappy about a pattern that has developed inside the West Wing. He makes a clear and succinct statement â only to have aides rush to explain that he actually meant something else. The so-called clean-up campaign, he has told advisers, undermines him and smothers the authenticity that fueled his rise. Worse, it feeds a Republican talking point that heâs not fully in command.â
However, a White House official told the outlet that âWe donât say anything that the president doesnât want us to say.â
Biden also has reportedly expressed frustration that he believes he is not getting credit for unemployment dropping to below pre-pandemic levels. He also has shared that he thinks Republicans are not getting âtheir share of the blame for legislative gridlock in Congress, while heâs repeatedly faulted for not getting his agenda passed. â
