Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) admitted Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s unpopularity is creating “headwinds” for Democrats.
McAuliffe said during a virtual campaign event that Biden is proving to be a liability in McAuliffe’s campaign to regain his seat as Virginia’s governor. McAuliffe’s comments come as recent polling reveals that Biden’s approval rating has sunk to the lowest level of his presidency.
“We got to get Democrats out to vote. We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington,” McAuliffe told supporters. “As you know, the president is unpopular today, unfortunately, here in Virginia so we have got to plow through.”
Terry McAuliffe: Joe Biden "is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia." pic.twitter.com/QOMAWRBi2A
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A McAuliffe spokesperson later told Politico: “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.”
McAuliffe and Youngkin, the Republican nominee for Virginia governor, are running neck-and-neck in the Democrat-controlled state, according to a recent poll by Emerson College and Nexstar Media.
“The latest Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll of the Virginia gubernatorial election shows a tightening in the race, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe slightly leading Republican Glenn Youngkin 49% to 48%. One percent of voters plan to vote for someone else, and 2% are still undecided. In September, an Emerson/Nexstar poll showed McAuliffe with a four-point lead over Youngkin (49% to 45%),” the poll found.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday showed that Biden’s approval rating had sunk below 40%, the lowest level since he took office in January. The Biden administration has struggled to control a number of crises from foreign policy to immigration to a struggling economy. As The Daily Wire reported:
Biden’s approval is 15 points underwater, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. The poll, with a margin of error of 2.7 points, is based on a survey of 1,326 U.S. adults taken from October 1-4.
“Battered on trust, doubted on leadership, and challenged on overall competency, President Biden is being hammered on all sides as his approval rating continues its downward slide to a number not seen since the tough scrutiny of the Trump administration,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
Biden’s rating measured 38% approval to 53% disapproval, the worst score he’s received since taking office in January. Biden’s net disapproval has nearly doubled since the last time Quinnipiac conducted the poll putting Biden’s approval rating at 42% to 50%.
Biden’s poor approval rating comes on the heels of other bad news for Democrats: The monthly $300-per-child checks from the federal government sent to parents over the summer are not having the desired effect on voters. According to Politico:
Democrats who were hoping that the monthly $300-per-child checks the federal government started sending to families over the summer would be a winner in the midterms won’t like the findings of our latest poll with Morning Consult. Fewer than half of respondents, 47%, gave congressional Democrats credit for providing the extra cash, and even fewer, 38%, credited President Joe Biden. While half of registered voters support the expanded payments (vs. 38% in opposition), only 35% want to make them permanent — an idea Democrats in Congress are weighing at the moment. The payments are set to expire next year.