White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki blamed the American public during a press conference on Friday for President Joe Biden’s declining poll numbers, claiming that the 20 percent of the population who have not gotten vaccinated have thrown a wrench into Biden’s success.
“The President has very tough approval ratings these days,” a reporter said. “What do you make of these really terrible polls? Are they that he’s doing something wrong? Is it just the communication? Or is it he’s doing unpopular things that have to be done? Or something else?”
“Well, look, I would say that this is a really tough time in our country. We’re still battling COVID, and a lot of people thought we’d be through it, including us,” Psaki responded. “And we — because of the rise of the Delta variant, because of the fact that even though it was a vaccine that was approved under a Republican administration, even though we now have full FDA approval, and even though it’s widely available across the country, we still have a quarter of the country who have — less than that — 20 percent of the country who’ve decided not to get vaccinated. No question that’s having an impact.”
“And, of course, as the president has said, the buck stops with him,” she claimed. “That’s far and away the biggest issue on the minds of the American people, and it’s impacting a lot of issues. We’ve talked a little bit about the supply chain. We’ve talked about, you know, people’s safety and feeling in the workforce. And so, our focus is — yes, not — not exactly on the day-to-day up and downs of the polls; our focus is on getting the pandemic under control, returning to life — a version of normal — so people can have security in going into work and dropping their kids off and knowing people will be safe. And that’s where we think we should spend our time and energy.”
WATCH:
AFP's Sebastian Smith: Biden's "very tough approval rating these days…You might say that they don't mean anything, but it's also fair to say that…when there are good polls, you publicize them. So, what do you make of these really terrible polls?" pic.twitter.com/DCRRm4IUAF
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 8, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: Thanks, Jen. The president has very tough approval ratings these days. And I (inaudible) prefer it if I didn’t talk about polls — and you might say that they don’t mean anything, but it’s also fair to say the White House, when there are good polls, you — you’ve publicized them. So, what do you make of these really terrible polls? Are they that he’s doing something wrong? Is it just the communication? Or is it he’s doing unpopular things that have to be done? Or something else?
PSAKI: Sure.
REPORTER: Thank you.
PSAKI: Well, look, I would say that this is a really tough time in our country. We’re still battling COVID, and a lot of people thought we’d be through it, including us. And we — because of the rise of the Delta variant, because of the fact that even though it was a vaccine that was approved under a Republican administration, even though we now have full FDA approval, and even though it’s widely available across the country, we still have a quarter of the country who have — less than that — 20 percent of the country who’ve decided not to get vaccinated. No question that’s having an impact. And, of course, as the president has said, the buck stops with him. That’s far and away the biggest issue on the minds of the American people, and it’s impacting a lot of issues. We’ve talked a little bit about the supply chain. We’ve talked about, you know, people’s safety and feeling in the workforce. And so, our focus is — yes, not — not exactly on the day-to-day up and downs of the polls; our focus is on getting the pandemic under control, returning to life — a version of normal — so people can have security in going into work and dropping their kids off and knowing people will be safe. And that’s where we think we should spend our time and energy.