White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared to blow off Americans’ apparent concerns about a potential second term for President Joe Biden, saying simply, “Polls go up. Polls go down.”
Just hours ahead of Biden’s planned State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre joined ABC’s midday talk show “The View” to preview his remarks and discuss what direction the administration planned to take in the next two years.
Jean-Pierre touted the Biden economy even as a recent ABC/Washington Post poll revealed that 41% of those surveyed felt they were worse off financially than they had been two years ago — the most to say that since the poll began asking that question some 37 years ago.
By comparison, at the same point in former President Donald Trump’s presidency, just 13% said they were worse off, while 25% said that they were better off.
WATCH:
Asked about Americans' concerns about the economy, White House @PressSec tells #TheView: "We understand Americans are still feeling some of that struggle, they are still feeling what we have gone through — one of the worst pandemics in a century." https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/pFzvSl5ry3
— The View (@TheView) February 7, 2023
Sara Haines pushed back on Jean-Pierre’s claims about the economy, asking, “Now if the economy is strong, why don’t more Americans feel that way?”
“What the president has done is transform the way we think about it, right? We used to talk about the trickle down economy. He doesn’t say that. He doesn’t believe in that. He believes in building an economy from the bottom up, middle out,” Jean-Pierre replied.
She went on to say, as Biden has in the past, that the administration was not putting much stock in polls: “Polls go up. Polls go down. We all know this. I know you all talk about this very often, so we know that’s a reality.”
But co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin challenged Jean-Pierre directly, citing another number from that same poll indicating that some 58% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents would prefer to have someone else run on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.
WATCH:
White House @PressSec Karine Jean-Pierre to #TheView: "[Pres. Biden] has said very explicitly, many, many times, that he intends to run [in 2024]." https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/jnADzE5JZL
— The View (@TheView) February 7, 2023
“Voters are even less enthused about Biden running again than Trump, a low bar. How do you respond to that fact that a whopping 58% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents want someone other than the president to run?” Griffin asked.
Jean-Pierre responded by simply citing the Hatch Act and repeating the president’s claim that he intends to run for reelection in 2024.