CNN Points Out Biden Has Lowest Approval Rating of Any President At This Point in Presidency Since Polling Began

CNN’s Kate Bolduan broke down the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll released this weekend on President Joe Biden’s approval rating and hypothetical 2024 match-ups.

“In the first real snapshot, if you will, of President Biden’s standing since his reelection announcement, voters are saying he has real work to do. And that’s even among his own party,” Bolduan began, adding:

A new Washington Post, ABC News poll found that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents that they want the party, their party, to nominate someone else. Biden’s overall approval rating remains underwater as well.

36% approval, according to the Washington Post, ABC News poll. That’s the lowest for any American president at this point in their first term. That’s dating back to Harry Truman.

The poll “does show some challenging figures for President Biden as he’s just under two weeks into his reelection campaign. One of the concerns that voters have expressed have to do with his mental sharpness,” CNN reporter Arlette Saenz told Bolduan, adding:

If you take a look at this poll, only 32% of voters said that the president, who is 80 years old, has the mental sharpness to serve effectively. Compare that to former President Donald Trump, where only 54% of voters said that the former president, who is 76 years old, has the mental sharpness to serve effectively. Now President Biden has pushed back against concerns about his age.

He said that he as he decided to run for reelection, he took a hard look at his own age and ultimately decided to move forward with it. And in a recent interview, he said that his age gives him more experience and also, quote, ‘A hell of a lot of wisdom.’ So that is one thing that the president will have to surmount as he moves forward in this reelection bid, is those concerns about his age. But I also want to show you what this poll has to say about hypothetical general election matchups.

If you take a look at President Biden and Donald Trump. This shows that 38% of voters say they would definitely or probably vote for Biden, while 44% say the same for Trump. Then take a look at DeSantis. 37% say say they definitely or probably would vote for Biden, compared to 42% for DeSantis. Now, one thing to note in this poll is these questions are worded differently compared to other polls that are evaluating these possible general election matchup. But it is still very, very early in the process. But these figures have shown right there at least, that the president is trailing his chief rival is on the Republican side.

“We know that the president took aim at both of those men in that announcement video for his campaign. So these are just some of the challenges that the president will have to overcome in the coming months with a campaign 18 months away,” Saenz concluded.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.