President Joe Biden has spent months battling consistently dropping poll numbers, but the Politico/Morning Consult Poll that was released Wednesday might be the worst news yet — and it coincides, unfortunately, with the last day of Biden’s first year in the Oval Office.
According to the poll — which surveyed 2,005 registered voters on January 15-16, 2022 — 37% gave Biden failing marks for his first year in office. Another 12% gave Biden a “D,” while just 11% said he deserved an “A” and 20% gave him a “B.” Of the remaining 20%, 18% said the president deserved a “C” and 2% were undecided.
Overall, Biden’s first-year “grades” were slightly worse than those of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump — who received an “F” from 35% in 2018 and a combined 34% gave him either an “A” or a “B.”
Predictably, Republicans gave Biden much lower marks — more than 85% gave him either a “D” or an “F,” and only 5% gave him an “A” or a “B.” The president scored slightly higher with independents, with nearly half grading him at a “D” or an “F” and close to 25% giving an “A” or a “B.”
The vast majority of Democrats gave Biden a “C” or higher — but 11% of his own party still gave him either a “D” or an “F.”
Biden also received decidedly poor marks on specific issues — particularly his oft-repeated campaign promise to “restore unity” among Americans, regardless of party. Nearly 75% of Republicans — and 40% of those surveyed overall — gave Biden an “F” on that issue.
Other less-than-stellar marks came in issues such as immigration and the federal deficit, with his best grades coming for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic: 3% of Republicans and 37% of Democrats — overall, 18% —gave him an “A.”
Biden’s poll numbers have been so low in recent weeks that an NBC report published Tuesday detailed the administration’s plan to adopt a new communications strategy in an attempt to “reset” the president’s public image.
As The Daily Wire reported:
President Joe Biden’s communications team has reportedly decided that it’s time to change course and adopt a “new communications strategy” designed to rescue the administration from plummeting polls and legislative failures.
According to the report from NBC, the new strategy depends on Biden spending less time talking to Congress — at least in full view of the public — and more time using his bully pulpit: speaking directly with the American people.
Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro noted Wednesday that Biden’s dismal first year was entirely of his own making, tweeting, “Except for William Henry Harrison and James Garfield, both of whom were dead at this point in their terms, Joe Biden has had the worst first year of any president in American history. Entirely self-inflicted.”
“Abraham Lincoln is not included on this list only because when half the country secedes during your first few weeks in office, that’s not really on you,” he added.