White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki did not dispute that President Joe Biden’s poll numbers have cratered in recent months and instead placed part of the blame on unvaccinated Americans.
“I know you’ve mentioned COVID before, but is it also because of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan?” a reporter asked Psaki. “Is it the stalled agenda for President Biden? What do you suppose is the reason that we’ve seen this slide in the President’s approval ratings?”
“Well, a lot of people in this room work for organizations that have done polls, and there’s a lot of underlying data in them. And sometimes it differs,” Psaki claimed. “So, I would just go back to what our view is — is that we’re still going through a hard time in this country, and people are tired of fighting a pandemic. They’re tired of the impact on their lives. Some of them are sick and tired of people who won’t get vaccinated, who they feel are impacting their ability to live life in a normal way. Some people are still fearful for loved ones. And we all thought that it would be over at this point in time. Obviously, the Delta variant and other factors have led to — this to be extended.”
WATCH:
Asked by @GrayDCNews's Jon Decker about the fact that Biden's "polls have declined sharply over the last few months," Psaki laments that people are "still going through a hard time" with "some…sick and tired of people who won't get vaccinated" and are impacting their happiness pic.twitter.com/CAF2Twuabg
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 22, 2021
TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA THE WHITE HOUSE:
REPORTER: I want to ask you about public opinion polls, which I’m sure you recognize. The President’s public opinion polls have declined sharply over the last few months. And I want to get a sense from you, in speaking to your White House colleagues, why you think that is?
I know you’ve mentioned COVID before, but is it also because of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan? Is it the stalled agenda for President Biden? What do you suppose is the reason that we’ve seen this slide in the President’s approval ratings?
PSAKI: Well, a lot of people in this room work for organizations that have done polls, and there’s a lot of underlying data in them. And sometimes it differs.
So, I would just go back to what our view is — is that we’re still going through a hard time in this country, and people are tired of fighting a pandemic. They’re tired of the impact on their lives. Some of them are sick and tired of people who won’t get vaccinated, who they feel are impacting their ability to live life in a normal way. Some people are still fearful for loved ones. And we all thought that it would be over at this point in time. Obviously, the Delta variant and other factors have led to — this to be extended.
So, there’s no question that the fatigue with COVID is impacting people around the country. The President understands that; he’s empathetic to that. And he knows that the best thing he can do is help get COVID under control, continue to work to address some fundamental issues in our economy, put people back to work, and that’s what he’s focused on every day.
REPORTER: And then how do you turn things around, Jen? What’s the way? Is it just getting victories? Is it in passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill? What’s the way that you think President Biden can turn around these sliding approval ratings?
PSAKI: He can keep his head focused on doing the job — doing the job as President, leading the American people, make — putting in place fundamental changes that will make people’s lives better.