President Joe Biden blamed the media for American discontent with his handling of the economy while fielding press questions on the September jobs report at the White House on Friday.
“You all are not the happiest people about what you report. You get more legs when you report something negative,” Biden said. “I think [Americans] know they’re better off financially than they were before. It’s a fact,” he concluded, before going on to make a strange point about throwing a dog in a lake.
Biden is asked about why Americans aren't happy about the economy:
"You all are not the happiest people about what you report. You get more legs when you report something negative… I think [Americans] know they're better off financially than they were before. It's a fact." pic.twitter.com/ZWM9kX0Pdk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 6, 2023
Recent polling on the economy has been abysmal for the 80-year-old Democrat, who is ostensibly seeking re-election in 2024.
Two weeks ago a Washington Post-ABC News poll found just 30 percent of Americans approve of the Biden economy. For the first time in 32 years, Republicans lead Democrats – 53 to 39 percent – on the question of who would handle the economy better in Gallup’s tracking poll. A late-September Marquette Law School poll showed 52 percent of voters think former President Donald would better handle the economy – only 28 percent said Biden would handle it better.
Despite the Biden White House repeatedly claiming Americans are better off financially now than ever before under, mounting evidence suggests unease about the state of the economy is justified. Under Biden, nearly two-thirds of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Home mortgage rates have soared to the highest levels in 23 years. In August, credit rating agency Fitch downgraded its AAA U.S. government debt rating to AA+.
Biden’s decision to center his campaign on the success of “Bidenomics” increasingly looks like a blunder. Fears over the state of the economy is driving down support for Democrats across key constituencies, including among Black and Hispanic voters. In a historic speech in Michigan, Trump made the case for “patriotic protectionism” – a relentless effort to reshore jobs from China and combat foreign trade manipulation.