President Joe Biden is reportedly frustrated with his poll numbers hovering near those of his predecessor and a feeling that he just cannot “catch a break” amid a series of crises.
NBC News published a story Tuesday detailing frustrations on the part of the president stemming from “a rolling series of calamities.”
“Crises 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 — 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,” it noted.
And amid the series of crises, the president’s poll numbers have plunged.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s approval rating tracker as of Tuesday morning, 40.8% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, while 54% disapprove.
The president’s approval rating hovered above 50% until August 2021 amid the chaotic exit from Afghanistan.
Since then, his poll numbers have not recovered.
“Biden is rattled by his sinking approval ratings and is looking to regain voters’ confidence that he can provide the sure-handed leadership he promised during the campaign, people close to the president say,” NBC reports.
One source close to the White House said, “He’s now lower than Trump, and he’s really twisted about it.”
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told the outlet, “I don’t know what’s required here.”
“But I do know the poll numbers have been stuck where they are for far too long,” 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, “Amid a rolling series of calamities, Biden’s feeling lately is that he just can’t catch a break. ‘Biden is frustrated. If it’s not one thing, it’s another,’ said a person close to the president.”
“Biden is annoyed that he wasn’t 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 didn’t specify when Biden got his first briefing on the formula shortage.),” it added.
Additionally, he is “unhappy about a pattern that has developed inside the West Wing. He makes a clear and succinct statement — 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 he’s not fully in command.”
However, a White House official told the outlet that “We don’t say anything that the president doesn’t want us to say.”
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 “their share of the blame for legislative gridlock in Congress, while he’s repeatedly faulted for not getting his agenda passed. “
