Despite having taken office with a strong approval record, record inflation, high gas prices, and the border crisis gradually chipped away at Joe Biden’s popularity. But it was his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that ultimately sent his numbers underwater. It seemed likely that once Afghanistan was no longer in the headlines, his approval ratings would recover. But gas prices were still high, the supply crisis meant higher prices and empty shelves, the border crisis wasn’t being addressed, and, of course, he failed to “shut down” COVID as he repeatedly promised that he would.
Biden’s poll numbers did start to improve in mid-November, and for about a month they were trending in his favor. But by mid-December, they were trending back toward the negative. So naturally, the White House went into crisis mode. What could they do to fix this? How could they turn things around?
Just before Christmas, the Biden’s announced the addition of a new puppy, Commander, to the White House. Commander would take the place of the Biden’s dog Major, who didn’t adapt well to life in the White House and started biting people. So, with an adorable puppy in tow, the Biden’s posed for the cameras hoping it would give Joe’s approval ratings a boost.
Related: 5 Ways Joe Biden Made the COVID Pandemic Worse
Well, it appears that a new puppy couldn’t save Joe Biden’s presidency. Biden’s RealClearPolitics average is now at -12.5, which is his worst yet. His best showing in recent polls is a -6 approval from Reuters this week, representing a negative shift of 8 points since their previous poll three weeks earlier, which had him at +2. That poll was the first poll tracked by RealClearPolitics to show him in positive territory (save for one Reuters poll from December showing him split 48-48) since the beginning of November, which also happened to be a Reuters poll.
Something tells me Reuters was trying to inflate Biden’s approval ratings because while they were showing more evenly divided approval ratings, other polling outfits had Biden underwater by double-digits or nearly double-digits.
It’s clear from the polling that Joe Biden is in trouble and that time hasn’t healed the wounds caused by his presidency. Inflation is still a problem. Gas prices are still high. The border crisis continues. And COVID… well… the COVID pandemic has gotten worse on his watch, not better. These are things even a new puppy won’t distract us from.
Still, there is some good news for Biden. First, his poll numbers will inevitably recover at some point. Evidence is growing that the omicron variant might signal that the end of the COVID pandemic is coming soon. As such, it’s a foregone conclusion that Biden will claim credit for “shutting down the virus” even though the coronavirus merely went through the typical lifecycle of a virus.
Whether the public will buy it or not, we’ll have to wait and see. So far, the public hasn’t fallen for the White House lies about how great the economy is, so there’s hope the people won’t be fooled.
