From day 189 of his tenure, it steadily declines: the popularity rating of the ‘How (im)popular is Joe Biden?’ chart. That was July 28, 2021. Did anything special happen then? Not really. President Biden welcomed Sviatlana Tsikhanuskaja at the White House, a Belarusian political activist who ran in her country’s 2020 elections in a bid to overthrow President Lukashenko.
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A more logical clue to his unpopularity seems more likely to come in a striking response from a Twitter user, someone who indicates that gas prices were a lot lower when Trump was president than now that Biden is in the White House.
Popularity Chart
The website FiveThirtyEight relies with his graph on all the nationwide polls out there about Biden’s popularity, with an extensive rating system that relates to the reliability of the poll in question. They started with this chart when Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States and went back to Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States.
At the end of last year there was already enormous criticism of the American president and opponents expressed it in a special way:
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We are now on day 519 of Joe Biden’s term of office. His popularity is 39.3 percent lower than the 42.4 percent that Trump reached on his 519th day. What is going on?
Half of the country against
According to correspondent Erik Mouthaan, Biden’s unpopularity has several reasons: “America is very divided. If you win the elections as a Democrat, you already have half the country against you, namely all Republicans. But at the moment everyone seems dissatisfied with Biden. Many Republicans still think the election was stolen from Trump. The Democrats are disappointed because they don’t think Biden is left enough and the moderate Republicans are unhappy with the rising prices.”
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On paper, the Biden government has delivered measurable performance. Six million new jobs were created in 2021, helping to reduce unemployment in the US by about 2.5 percent. The lowest percentage in the US since 1969. Minimum wages have also risen.
rescue package
Mouthaan: “He came up with a rescue package for the economy, which means that it is now in good shape. And a huge financing plan to improve the infrastructure. boost has also successfully passed through it.”
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But there have also been painful events in the first year and a half of Biden’s presidency. Cessation of the mission in Afghanistan after twenty years, as a result of which the Taliban nullified all western developments in no time. The inflation that America, like much of the rest of the world, is struggling with. Last December inflation in the US was the highest in 40 years. And, as the twitterer said on that specific July 28, 2021: fuel prices in the US are still very high.
Full tank priceless
“Gasoline has always been dirt cheap in America, but has become very expensive. And in a country where everyone has a car, it is very expensive. You notice that immediately in your wallet. Then you can talk about all the long-term goals that Biden achieves but if you can no longer pay for your full tank, then the dissatisfaction becomes great,” says Mouthaan.
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Biden also has an image problem. He is seen by many, not just in the US, as a very old man. There are endless montages on social media in which Biden doesn’t get his words out, with lyrics like ‘Biden demented?’ in the title. Recently, a video of Biden went viral in which he had a rather clumsy crash with his bicycle.
There is no denying that Biden is indeed old. The oldest president the US has ever had. “There’s a kind of industry built around him to expose him as a senile man. But if you listen to his speeches for hours, he doesn’t come across as that at all. Sure, he’s a 79-year-old man, he slips sometimes, but the Americans knew that before he became president. Yet they voted for him. And Trump is already 76.”
Not visible enough
Biden’s victories don’t seem to stick to him. Although he has achieved success, this is not so visible to voters. “Biden is not often on the road. All that infrastructure that is financed from the government, for example, you never see him standing at a newly built bridge to say: look guys, we managed that nicely.”
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The next election is in 2024. Biden is halfway there. In principle, he still has enough time to make up for his declining popularity. “And then he can come back to his achievements: the economic successes, and that everyone has received a corona vaccine, for example.”
Midterm elections
Closer to this are the midterm elections, which will take place next November. “The House of Representatives is elected and the Democrats are heading for a huge loss in parliament.” And then it becomes even more difficult for Biden to gain approval in parliament and to gain support for his big plans.
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