President Joe Biden is being called out for his “wishful thinking” in dismissing plummeting poll numbers, prompting criticism even from obedient media mouthpieces like CNN.
“He doesn’t like the polls. He doesn’t like what they’re showing right now,” host Erin Burnett said Tuesday in referring to an interview with the president in which he “expressed disdain and frustration” of swing state polls.
“The polling data has been wrong all along,” Biden told Burnett last week. “How many of you guys do a poll at CNN? How many folks do you have to call to get one response?”
“Is he right or is it wishful thinking?” Burnett asked CNN data analyst Harry Enten on “OutFront” Tuesday.
“He loved the polls four years ago when they showed him ahead,” Enten replied. “These are the same polls now.” But here’s the thing: the polls can be right at this point, and then keep in mind, we still have six months until the election. Polls can change plenty.”
“On election day in the average battleground states, the polls were off six points since 1972,” he pointed out. “In 2020, they were off five points. So, if we’re talking about one, two-point leads in these battleground states, the polls could be showing one thing and then the other person could certainly win.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was repeatedly questioned about Biden’s poor swing state poll numbers and blamed everything from COVID to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy grilled the Biden spokesperson over why “Americans are so down on President Biden right now” during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.
Biden trailed former President Donald Trump in five of six swing states in a poll from The New York Times, Siena College, and The Philadelphia Inquirer which was released Monday.
“We are sensitive enough and open-minded enough to understand that not just this country, but globally people have had to deal with a pandemic and coming out of that pandemic. We understand that even think about gas prices and because of Putin’s war what has occurred, that led to gas prices increasing,” Jean-Pierre said.
She excused the president by saying he had multiple “crises” to deal with before admitting that “prices are too high for Americans” and said it’s “going to take a little bit of time.”
“I get that you understand people are hurting right now. Why is it that nothing you’re doing to address their concerns is working?” Doocy pressed.
The press secretary responded by saying Biden understands “what the American people are feeling” while running examples of what the administration has purportedly been doing to fix problems of its own making.
“What I’m saying is we’re going to continue to do the work. I can’t speak to the polls. Those are for folks who are experts who can do a deep dive and look into that and speak to them,” she said. “What I can speak to is we understand what the American people are feeling. We understand what they’re going through. That’s why we’re going to continue to do the work.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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