Since announcing last month that he would seek re-election, President Joe Biden’s job approval ratings have steadily decreased, diminishing his prospects of being re-elected.
However, fresh concerns about issues such as the nation’s rising debt and political debates over raising the debt ceiling are beginning to affect his presidency.
The majority of Americans are concerned about the debt ceiling, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, but opinions on the best course of action diverge.
“The polls show neither Democratic President Joe Biden nor congressional Republicans hold a clear advantage in public opinion as they head into discussions on Tuesday to resolve a months-long standoff over the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit,” Reuters noted.
“The Treasury says it could run out of money to pay the country’s bills as soon as June 1 unless Congress increases the borrowing cap. Economists say the resulting default would roil global financial markets and plunge the U.S. into recession,” the piece explained.
It is imperative that we do not deny veterans, Gold Star families, military families, and all Americans the invaluable opportunity to visit the hallowed grounds of our fallen war heroes due to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations.
Thank you to my colleague @RepMoskowitz for… pic.twitter.com/CUr0rTyoQA
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 16, 2023
Seventy-six percent of poll respondents, a substantial majority of Americans, believe that the two parties must reach an accord on the issue because a default would exacerbate financial hardship for families, including their own. 84 percent of self-identified Democrats and 77 percent of self-identified Republicans concurred with the statement.
Only 29% of respondents felt that the situation was being blown out of proportion.
According to Reuters, opinions on a solution vary.
Some 49% said Congress needs to quickly raise the debt ceiling without conditions to avert default, echoing Biden’s position. Some 68% of Democrats and 39% of Republicans took that view.
Maybe President Biden has a secret plan on the debt ceiling. pic.twitter.com/DDacz850xN
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 16, 2023
But 51% of Americans said the debt ceiling should not be raised without substantial spending cuts – the position held by Republicans who hold a majority in the House of Representatives. That view was held by 69% of Republicans and 42% of Democrats, the poll found.
When he was vice president, Joe Biden said the national debt was too big and that we had to find areas to save taxpayer money.
That was when the debt was $14 Trillion. Today it's $31 Trillion.
If he was right back then, it's even more important to make spending changes now. pic.twitter.com/YDRSJTc6Nx
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 13, 2023
In the most recent poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post, Biden trailed prospective GOP candidate Donald Trump by seven percentage points.
“It’s not because Trump is popular – he isn’t. Rather, it’s because Democrats are failing to offer an alternative that appeals to the majority of voters, who crave change and are fed up with the extremes on both sides,” claims Joe Cunningham, a former SC Dem congressman who was ousted in 2020 by Rep. Nancy Mace (R). Mace went on to win the election again in 2022.
“Something must be done. Since Democrats are unable or unwilling to offer an alternative, I’m supporting an effort to secure a better choice for president in 2024 that represents the commonsense majorities in both parties. The effort, led by the organization No Labels, will secure a place on the presidential ballot in all 50 states for a unity ticket featuring a Democrat and a Republican as running mates,” according to Cunningham in an opinion piece that was issued on Tuesday.
Cunningham believes that the majority of Americans are neither staunchly leftist nor staunchly rightist, but instead fell somewhere in the center or lean left or right, giving his party a fighting chance.
“The national Democratic Party assumes foolishly that all moderates will automatically side with Biden over Trump, even though Democrats have done nothing to court these moderates. But those of us Democrats who have competed in red or purple states know the weakness of this strategy. We know that you underestimate Trump at your own peril. In truth, he typically runs ahead of the polling, meaning 7 points might be an understatement of his current lead over Biden,” according to Cunningham.
“It is possible to applaud President Biden’s work in public service and also say the sun is setting on his career. It’s time for fresh leadership – leadership based around unity, problem solving and common sense. National Democrats won’t offer it, so we’ll have to look elsewhere,” he said in conclusion.
President Trump spoke exclusively to Fox News about the stunning revelation (which everyone already knew) by Special Counsel John Durham that Obama and Biden were briefed on Hillary Clinton’s plan to ‘vilify’ Trump by linking him to Putin prior to the 2016 election.
“I, and much more importantly, then American public have been victims of this long-running and treasonous charade started by the Democrats — started by Comey,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “There must be a heavy price to pay for putting our country through this,” Fox reported.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the activities surrounding the FBI’s original Trump-Russia investigation were “a total disgrace,” and said “public anger over this report is at a level that I have not seen before.”
“This report took a long time because John Durham is a very thorough investigator,” Trump said. “But the result is unequivocal and an absolute disaster in terms of justice.”
Trump added that “the national security implications of what they did are very grave.”
“It turned out to be a giant and very dangerous hoax,” he said, adding that he would have “further comment in the near future.”
Matt Gaetz spoke to Newsmax about the massive scandal.