Nearly half of American voters don’t think President Joe Biden’s firing on all cylinders. At nearly 80 years old, Biden’s low approval rating has been linked with his apparently declining mental faculties.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll published on Wednesday showed only 40% of voters agreeing that Biden “is in good health,” a 19-point drop since voters were asked the same question in October 2020.
Some 46% of voters reckoned that Biden is mentally fit, while 48% disagreed, another huge drop since last October. Back in October 2020, with a month to go before the presidential election, voters believed that America’s oldest leader to take office was mentally fit by a 21-point margin.
Biden’s mental health has long been a target of Republican attacks. However, the Right’s criticisms of Biden’s brainpower have entered the mainstream since Biden took office. Videos showing Biden forgetting the names of his own officials and foreign dignitaries, wandering around lost at global summits, and most recently praising the “great negro” baseball player Satchel Paige have all eroded public confidence in Biden’s cognitive abilities.
Meanwhile, record high gas prices, soaring inflation, lackluster jobs numbers and shortages of food and consumer goods have all chipped away at Biden’s approval ratings. A USA Today poll earlier this month put Biden’s approval rating at under 38%, and while 44% of voters in Wednesday’s Politico/Morning Consult survey approved of Biden’s job as president, 58% disagreed with the statement “Joe Biden is capable of leading the country.”
Biden turns 79 on Saturday, and although he has said that he will run for re-election in 2024, he will be 81 when Americans go to the polls that year. Thursday’s poll found that the majority of voters felt that Biden lacks energy, is not a “clear communicator,” and is not a strong leader.
However, should Biden pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s problems would likely not be alleviated. Harris is historically unpopular, with a dismal approval rating of just 28%.
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