Australian television hosts mocked President Joe Biden in an interview that aired Friday, comparing the president to a dementia patient.
“Speaking about people who are not quite up to the job, I wanna talk about the leader of the free world,” said Sky News host Chris Kenny, referring to Biden appearing to to shake hands with thin air after finishing his Thursday speech in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Biden just finished his speech and shook hands with nobody pic.twitter.com/XLndAZcHiD
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 14, 2022
PolitiFact later fact checked the incident, stating, “Biden was gesturing towards his audience, not shaking hands with ‘thin air.'”
Kenny called this a “sad and pathetic scene.”
“The poor bloke is a bit vague at times,” he said.
Kenny’s co-host noted that her “late grandmother had dementia,” noting, “I’m not diagnosing the bloke” before calling Biden’s behavior “disturbing.”
“You don’t put someone that’s potentially vulnerable in that position,” she said, suggesting that Biden staffers should always be on hand to help the president out of awkward situations that he cannot handle.
“He’s turned around and shaking hands with thin air,” she exclaimed.
“Sad isn’t it, sad indeed,” Kenny said.
WATCH:
The president was also widely mocked in early April after videos of a White House event appeared to show him being ignored by attendees as attention centered on former President Barack Obama.
Joe Biden being ignored…AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/J6CyukClEu
— PARIS (@PARISDENNARD) April 5, 2022
Polling released Wednesday by both CNBC and Quinnipiac found that the president’s approval ratings have sunk to the lowest levels of his presidency thus far. These low approval ratings are driven by American concerns about rising inflation, the economy, and the president’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The CNBC poll found that 47% of respondents said the economy was in “poor” condition while another 35% said it was in “only fair” condition, 15% said the economy was in “good” condition, and just 2% said it was “excellent.”
Forty-three percent of those polled by CNBC said the economy would get worse over the next year, 26% said it would “stay about the same,” and 26% said that it would “get better.” Fifty-six percent said there would likely be a recession in the next year, compared to the 29% who said there would not be a recession.
CNBC found that Biden’s approval had sunk to a new low of 38% overall: 35% of voters said they approved of how Biden has handled the economy, while 60% of those polled said they disapproved.
The Quinnipiac poll found that Biden’s general approval rating dropped to just 33%: 54% of Americans disprove of the president’s handling of his job, while 13% did not offer an opinion.
“Biden’s 33 percent job approval ties the low that he received in a Quinnipiac University poll on January 12, 2022 when his job approval rating was a negative 33 – 53 percent,” the polling said, noting that “thirty-nine percent of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while 48 percent disapprove.”