Most voters think President Joe Biden is one of the worst presidents in history, according to a new Rasmussen Reports and The National Pulse survey, where he ranks below both Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
According to the survey, 54% of likely U.S. voters think Biden “will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history.” Curiously, 15% believe Biden will be remembered as one of the best presidents—I suspect they all are named Ronald Klain and Jen Psaki—and 25% think his presidency will be remembered as about average.
The survey only asked about Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama, and here’s how they compared:
Joe Biden:
- 15% said one of the best.
- 54% said one of the worst.
- 25% said about average.
Donald Trump:
- 41% said one of the best.
- 43% said one of the worst.
- 12% said about average.
Barack Obama:
- 34% said one of the best.
- 33% said one of the worst.
- 30% said about average.
I find these results fascinating. A while back, I wrote a book called The Worst President in History. It was about Barack Obama. I started writing the book shortly after Obama was reelected despite his many failures and abject corruption. It was my catharsis. Mitt Romney may not have been the best nominee for the GOP (he has clearly proven this since), but boy, anyone could have done a better job of getting the country back on track than Barack Obama.
Related: Poll: 72% Think the U.S. Is Headed in the ‘Wrong Direction’
Calling anyone the worst president or “one of the worst presidents” is a very loaded assessment. At least since President George W. Bush was in office, every sitting president has been dubbed “the worst president in history” by someone. Heck, the left was labeling Trump the worst president in history and calling for his impeachment before he even took office.
Similarly, enthusiasm for sitting presidents tends to be the strongest while they’re in office and shortly afterward. For example, Barack Obama was widely hailed by the left as one of the greatest presidents in history, not so much because of anything he did but because of what his presidency symbolized. Barack Obama couldn’t simply be the nation’s first black president; he had to be a successful president, which is why the media worked overtime to make his presidency look better than it was and ignored his multitude of scandals.
Covering for Joe Biden has been more difficult for the media. Biden doesn’t have the race card to play, which is why he constantly makes affirmative action picks for his administration and the judiciary. Because he is an old white guy, the media doesn’t have to worry about being accused of racism for giving him bad press. This makes it easier for them to do their job correctly and cover bad news under Biden, instead of covering up bad news under Barack Obama. That’s why Joe Biden’s approval ratings tanked after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan while Obama was reelected shortly after the Benghazi terrorist attack.
So it makes sense that most voters think Joe Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in history. Frankly, it’s deserved. Biden seems to be destroying everything he touches, be it the pandemic response, the border, or the economy. We can all see and feel the impact of his disastrous policies, and even stalwart liberals are finding it increasingly difficult to make excuses for him. Biden may not be as loved by the media as Barack Obama was, but he isn’t hated by them the way Trump was. Yet with all the advantages he had, that he’s so quickly entered worst president territory in the eyes of the voters is incredible.
