As President Joe Biden’s poll numbers continue to drop amid a slew of crises affecting the American people, the embattled president plans to campaign for struggling Democrats seeking governorships in New Jersey and Virginia.
As Politico reported, the White House is hoping for a good news cycle in the week before voters in New Jersey and Virginia will decide who will be their next governors. Biden is in New Jersey on Monday to stump for Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), who is expected to win re-election in what has become a much tighter race in the past few weeks.
In May, polls showed Murphy up 26 points over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli. Last week, a poll from Emerson College showed the race had tightened considerably, with Murphy leading by just 6 points. Politico reported that New Jersey pols have warned “that there is a serious lack of enthusiasm among Democrats in the state.”
On Tuesday, Biden will travel to Virginia to campaign for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) who is running to be one of the few politicians in state history to serve two non-consecutive terms as governor (Virginia law prohibits governors from serving two consecutive terms). McAuliffe had led Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin in every poll, but in the past week, the race has become tied.
Biden’s approval rating is currently hovering in the low 40s.
Earlier this month, McAuliffe acknowledged that Biden’s unpopularity was creating “headwinds” in the Old Dominion. The Daily Wire previously reported that McAuliffe made the comments during a virtual campaign event, suggesting the president had become a liability in Virginia.
“We got to get Democrats out to vote. We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington,” McAuliffe told supporters during the event. “As you know, the president is unpopular today, unfortunately, here in Virginia so we have got to plow through.”
A McAuliffe spokesperson told Politico after the event that “Terry’s point was clearly that Democrats can’t take anything for granted and must turn out to vote this year: Glenn Youngkin is running on a divisive, Trumpian agenda that puts election conspiracy theories and banning abortion first.”
The race in Virginia has especially tightened around education issues. Late last month, at the final gubernatorial debate, McAuliffe said he was “not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.”
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe added.
Youngkin jumped on McAuliffe’s comments, releasing TV ads featuring McAuliffe’s statements. McAuliffe later doubled down on the comments and then released his own ad claiming he had been taken out of context.
In New Jersey on Monday, Biden and Murphy visited East End Elementary School, where Biden apparently apologized for knocking over a student’s infrastructure project. “Whoa! I’m sorry, that was my fault,” Biden said, according to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs.
Jacobs reported that Biden then gestured to Murphy and his wife, saying, “See this man here? He’s the governor of the state. He runs the state. And this is his wife, who runs him.”
“Whoa! I’m sorry, that was my fault,” Biden says as child’s mini infrastructure project collapses.
Gesturing to @GovMurphy, Biden tells kids at East End Elementary in NJ: “See this man here? He’s the governor of the state. He runs the state. And this is his wife, who runs him.” https://t.co/ghltjMuEH0
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 25, 2021