Joe Biden\u2019s defenders downplayed\u2002worries over his age and poor poll numbers\u2002on Thursday as the president faced a fresh wave of concern related to his ability to serve a second term.
A CNN poll released Thursday morning\u2002showed the president\u2019s approval rating significantly underwater with just 39% of those polled approving of the job he\u2019s doing as president. Significantly, about three-quarters of Americans say they are concerned Biden\u2019s age might negatively affect his current level of physical and mental competence and his ability to serve another full term if reelected. The poll also showed that there is no clear leader between Biden and former President Donald Trump, the front-runner to challenge him in November 2024.
In an interview on CBS that aired Thursday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris was asked about an earlier poll from the Wall Street Journal that showed two-thirds of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve a second term. Harris downplayed those worries, saying that \u201cJoe Biden is going to be fine.\u201d
\u201cI work with Joe Biden every day,\u201d she said. \u201cThe work that under Joe Biden\u2019s leadership our administration has accomplished is transformative. I think the American people, most of all, want a leader who actually gets things done.\u201d
Similarly on Capitol Hill, a series of Democratic senators sought to downplay Biden\u2019s poor poll numbers.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNN that Biden does not need to campaign more aggressively because Trump is enough of an albatross to his own party. Warren added that the legislation that Democrats passed during the first two years of Biden\u2019s presidency, combined with issues such as abortion and protecting democracy, will improve enthusiasm as the election gets closer.
\u201cI think enthusiasm comes from two things. One, is things that affect you, like getting rid of junk fees, $35 insulin. I think it also comes from pride in defending democracy,\u201d she said. \u201cVoting for President Biden is going to be about preserving our democracy. And I think a lot of Americans are going to show up to do that.\u201d
Sen. Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable Ohio Democrat who is in one of the toughest Senate races in 2024, added that Biden\u2019s low polling numbers wouldn\u2019t stop him from campaigning with the president.
\u201cI campaign on my own. If he comes in, sure. I work with anybody that wants to work with me on all kinds of issues,\u201d Brown said.
Pressed on how having an unpopular president at the top of the ticket could affect his own chances, Brown replied, \u201cI\u2019m not concerned. I stand on my own.\u201d
Rep. Katie Porter of California, who is running for Sen. Dianne Feinstein\u2019s seat, stressed Biden\u2019s achievements in office in an interview with CNN\u2019s Erin Burnett on \u201cOutFront.\u201d She called the president\u2019s appearance with her on the campaign trail last year where he discussed prescription drugs \u201cincredibly helpful\u201d amid her tough reelection race.
\u201cSo, I absolutely would want to stand at the ribbon cutting, at the opening of some of these infrastructure projects,\u201d Porter said, adding that she wants to help Biden deliver a \u201cstrong message on the economy across the country.\u201d
The poll comes amid a period of tough news for the president: Special counsel David Weiss said in a court filing on Wednesday that he intends to indict Biden\u2019s son, Hunter Biden, before the end of the month. He also faced criticism from the president of the United Auto Workers as that union appears headed for a massive strike against the Big 3 American automakers. And a rise in Covid-19 cases that hit close to home \u2013 first lady Dr. Jill Biden tested positive on Monday \u2013 has struck the nation\u2019s frayed nerves over the virus.
None of the concerns over the president\u2019s age are necessarily new to Biden\u2019s team and the White House has continuously worked to reassure Americans that the president is in good health and his age is not an issue. A new ad unveiled by the president\u2019s reelection campaign showcased his trip to Kyiv earlier this year, a grueling trip\u2002that involved a flight to southern Poland and a 20-hour roundtrip train ride to the Ukrainian capital to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
\u201cJoe Biden walked shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies in the war-torn streets. Standing up for democracy in a place where a tyrant is waging war to take it away,\u201d a narrator says over video of Biden walking with Zelensky.
The narrator continued, \u201cIn the middle of a war zone, Joe Biden showed the world what America is made of. That\u2019s the quiet strength of a true leader who doesn\u2019t back down to a dictator.\u201d
That trip is one that aides and supporters often point to as an example of the president\u2019s fitness and energy level.
On Thursday, he embarked on another intense period of travel, flying to New Delhi for the G20 Summit before a Sunday trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet with the leaders of that nation in an attempt to counter China\u2019s influence in the Indo-Pacific. He\u2019ll then fly to Alaska where he will mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before flying home later that night.
Such travel schedules led White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to tell CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper last week that \u201cno other president has been able to do\u201d the job like Biden.
\u201cPeople have come after the president about his age \u2013 they did it in 2019, they did it in 2020 leading into the general election, and they did it in 2022, and guess what? He beats them every time,\u201d Jean-Pierre said, \u201cbecause he has a finger on the pulse of what it is that the American people need, he talks about issues that really matter to the American people, and he is delivering.\u201d
Still, it was clear that some prominent Democrats saw Thursday\u2019s poll \u2013 and others like it \u2013 as a warning sign for the White House.
David Axelrod, a former top aide to Barack Obama and a CNN senior political commentator, said the poll is \u201cnot good\u201d for the White House.
\u201cThese numbers are not good, and they are consistent with most of the other polling that we have seen, that the country\u2019s in a sour mood,\u201d he said.
Axelrod added, \u201cHe\u2019s not getting credit for what I think is a fairly substantial list of achievements. And there\u2019s real concern about his age. That\u2019s been true for some time. It continues to be true. And the reality is if this were a referendum, he would be in deep, deep trouble.\u201d
Kate Bedingfield, who served as Biden\u2019s communications director and is now a CNN political commentator, said it will be a challenge for the White House to avoid the 2024 election being a referendum on his first term.
\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody is saying that\u2019s easy. I don\u2019t think the Biden White House would say that\u2019s easy. But that\u2019s the challenge before them, is to really make this about the contrast,\u201d Bedingfield said.
Some of the president\u2019s allies on Capitol Hill called on the White House to do more to sell their accomplishments to the American people. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told CNN that the White House needs to be far more aggressive in its messaging.
\u201cThe more the better, in terms of pushing that message and making the American people aware of President Biden\u2019s achievements,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, more aggressive, earlier, and more widely, I think is the right way to go.\u201d
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona also acknowledged that the administration could be doing more on the economy to boost its polling numbers. Biden, he added, needs to focus on highlighting his accomplishments from his first two years in office, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.
\u201cWhen you look at the accomplishments over the last two-and-a-half years \u2013 you know, especially last Congress with the House, this Senate, bipartisan legislation that we got passed, things that are going to improve our infrastructure, climate, bringing down the price of prescription drugs \u2013 he\u2019s got a strong record to run on,\u201d said Kelly.
\u201cThere\u2019s 14 months until an election, and there\u2019s a lot of work we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n