‘Not Normal’: NBC’s Steve Kornacki Stresses a ‘Very High’ Number of Democrats Want Someone To Take On Biden

MSNBC political analyst Steve Kornacki emphasized just how significantly high the disapproval of President Joe Biden has climbed even within his own party, and how many Democrats want a serious primary challenger, in a devastating analysis on Sunday showing

“This is not a normal number for an incumbent,” said Kornacki.

The data guru covered the 2024 election outlook on the latest Meet the Press, and told new host and moderator Kristen Welker that the number of Democrats who are looking for a change at the top of the ticket is “very high,” and compared them against the GOP numbers for ex-president Donald Trump at the same approximate time ahead of the 2020 election.

Kornacki noted that Biden is “struggling” against every Republican candidate that NBC has measured him against in polling, and that Biden’s job performance as president is rated at a crushing 56% disapproval.

“Wow!” said Welker. She added, “that’s the highest disapproval rating for President Biden since he took office. That’s significant.”

Kornacki noted that, on the question “Do you want options next year besides Biden?” the response among Democrats is an astonishing 59.

“This is not a normal number for an incumbent,” he said. “We asked the same question the year before Donald Trump sought reelection of Republicans. Only 37% wanted more choices then.”

“That’s a very high number,” he said.

Welker noticed that in fact the numbers are almost “inverse of each other,” with Democrats wanting Biden challenged at 59% to 36%, and Republicans at the same time ahead of the 2020 election at 37% to 59%.

When Kornacki went on to note that Biden’s age and fitness are a top voter concern (74%), even more so than Trump’s legal troubles (62%), Welker said “Wow” again.

Despite most media outlets repeatedly assuring viewers that there’s no evidence that Biden was aware of or benefitted from his son’s business deals (while nevertheless making guest appearance on phone calls with those business associates), the NBC News poll showed clearly that most Americans continue to have major concerns on the subject, and other polling bears that out as well.

KORNACKI: Obviously, the fact that the President is struggling this much against every Republican we put him up against raises the question: where is that coming from?

WELKER: Yeah.

KORNACKI: The most obvious answer is just the simple question of job approval. Barely 40% approve –

WELKER: Wow.

KORNACKI: – of Joe Biden’s performance.

WELKER: And we have to note: 56%, that’s the highest disapproval rating for President Biden since he took office. That’s significant.

KORNACKI: Yeah. So let’s take a look at what’s driving that too here. And one big area, no surprise, it is the economy. Look at this contrast. This is April of ’21, months after Biden took office. Nearly half the country was satisfied with where the economy was then. Now, barely one in four Americans satisfied with the economy.

There’s also this: we found an enthusiasm gap between the two parties. We asked folks, “On a scale of one to ten, how enthusiastic are you about the presidential election?” And you can see Republicans and Democrats, there is a gap right there. Where’s the lag for Democrats? We found a couple places. Non-White voters, you could see significantly less enthusiastic than White voters.

And then how about this age gap? The youngest group of voters who Democrats have been trying to get excited and motivated, a 50 point – nearly 50 point gap there.

WELKER: So really, an uphill battle to try to make sure voters don’t stay home if you’re Democrats.

KORNACKI: Yeah, that’s it. And the problem for Democrats too – the lack of enthusiasm about the election.

There’s clearly a lack of enthusiasm about the President himself because we asked primary voters on the Democratic side, “Do you want options next year besides Biden?” 59% said yes, they do. This is not a normal number for an incumbent. We asked the same question the year before Donald Trump sought reelection of Republicans. Only 37% wanted more choices then. That’s a very high number.

WELKER: Yeah, this is, like, the inverse of each other, these two numbers.

Watch the clip above, via Meet the Press and NBC News.