Presidents usually see a bump in their approval rating after a State of the Union address. Presidents facing a reelect especially hope for a bump over their challenger. After watching his approval ratings plummet and trailing in polls against Donald Trump, President Joe Biden needed improvement on both fronts after last Thursday’s appearance. Unfortunately for him, he got only bad news.
By The Numbers:
According to FiveThirtyEight.com’s aggregate of national polls, Biden’s approval was 37.9% on March 6, the day before the State of the Union, and his disapproval was 56.6%. On March 13, these numbers were little changed, with his approval rating at 38.2% (+0.3%) and his disapproval 55.9% (-0.7%).
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll before the State of the Union speech had Trump and Biden statistically tied, 45%-44%, respectively. Their new General Election poll has the two still tied with Trump at 46% and Biden stuck at 44%.
The Bottom Line: Following Biden’s speech last Thursday, Democrats and liberal commentators lauded his “energetic,” “lively,” presentation. MSNBC panels were gleeful. Social media buzzed with praise. One columnist even called the speech a “comeback” for Biden, after previously penning a piece encouraging him to drop out of the race. This is the biggest disconnect from reality since the Biden Administration thought American families believed Bidenomics was working. Clearly, as these numbers show, Americans were not convinced by Biden’s rhetoric on Thursday night. It will take more than one speech to win back voters on the fence about supporting him for a second term.
