Republicans fail to convince Americans that Biden is failing

Congressional Republicans have repeatedly tried to claim that President Joe Biden is already a failure, just a few months into his presidency. But a new poll shows the American public is not buying it.

“It took less than 5 months for President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s Socialist Democratic Agenda to fail,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the new chair of the House Republican Conference, tweeted on Tuesday. “Unemployment is up, inflation is rising, & our economy is crippled by unnecessary spending.”

Unemployment is actually down since Donald Trump left office in January and the economy is growing.

But that has not stopped numerous Republicans from making similar attacks on Biden.

Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff tweeted Thursday that Biden’s “policies are failing the American people. We need a President who will open up our economy and get people back to work.”

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Friday — incorrectly — that “Biden is failing so fast that his own voters are ready to vote for Trump in ‘24,” apparently unaware of Biden’s strong approval ratings.

Some GOP lawmakers have specifically singled out his immigration policies for ridicule.

“The border policies of the Biden Administration are a complete failure and are leading to a massive increase in illegal immigration – with no end in sight,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina charged on May 11.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn on May 6 claimed a drop in deportations was “a failure of leadership.”

Others have attacked Biden’s handling of jobs and the economy.

“The Dems’ ‘COVID’ recovery plan to pay people MORE on unemployment assistance than they made in their previous job is killing small businesses,” wrote Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas on April 26. “This socialist policy was doomed to fail.”

“In just four months, Biden has created four crises,” claimed Alabama Rep. Barry Moore, citing the “Biden Border Crisis, Economic Crisis, Energy Crisis, National Security Crisis,” as alleged examples. “This administration is failing the American people.”

But the repetition of the claim does not appear to have swayed the public.

A new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, released Monday, found 62% job approval for Biden.

His handling of immigration (53% approval), the economy (62%), stimulating jobs (62%) and curbing the pandemic (70%) also enjoy broad approval.

This comes as unemployment claims have dropped to pandemic lows and most American adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Still, despite the strong public support for Biden, Republicans are fighting against his agenda. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on May 5 that “”One-hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.”

And Republicans reportedly are pulling back from infrastructure talks, upset that Biden wants to spend $1.5 trillion more than they do. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) told Politico on Tuesday that Republicans won’t come up to “anywhere near the number the White House has proposed” for the American Jobs Plan.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.