Biden’s approval numbers are dropping ahead of his Tuesday speech, with the most recent surveys showing only 37% approval to 55% disapproval. In addition, according to a Washington Post and ABC poll, 54 percent of Americans believe Biden has the mental acuity to serve as president, compared to 40 percent who believe he does. Fifty-nine percent of Americans also do not believe Biden is a capable leader.
When anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Psaki about Biden’s remark, he referred to this survey.
“The president is approaching his State of the Union in a pretty difficult political position right now,” Stephanopoulos said, “with a 37 percent approval rating and Democrats trailing badly in midterm polling. A majority in our recent poll out this morning even question the president’s mental capacity. How is he going to turn that around on Tuesday night? And how much has his State of the Union been changed by this war in Ukraine?”
Instead of responding to allegations about Biden’s mental competence, Psaki focused on Biden’s State of the Union address.
“You know, George, there’s no question that the State of the Union the American people and anybody watching around the world will hear the president talk about the efforts he has led over the past several months to build a global coalition to fight against the autocracy and the efforts of President Putin to invade a foreign country. That is certainly something that’s present in all our lives and certainly in the president’s life at this moment,” Psaki replied.
Leaders lead during crises, she concluded. This is precisely what Vice President Joe Biden is doing. He’ll talk about it, but he’ll also talk about his hope for the future and what we can all look forward to.
