The Stagwell Group President Mark Penn, a strategist for former President Bill Clinton, recently told Fox News he believes President Joe Biden’s approval rating decreased to 36% in recent polling because of his announcement for reelection.
Penn spoke with Fox News hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino to discuss the poll, which shows Biden’s approval rating at 36%, with only 36% of adults approving of Biden’s job as president, while 56% are disapproving. In February 2023, a different poll from the Washington Post and ABC News showed Biden’s approval rating at 42%. Penn noted that Biden’s loss of support is mainly from Democrats.
“Well, when he drops here from 42 to 36 in approval in this poll, that’s all Democrats who are jumping ship and saying, ‘I don’t approve of the presidency he’s doing,’” Penn explained.
“And I think we’ve seen for a long time – look, the Harris polling showed the same thing for a long time – people question his fitness for continued office, most Democrats didn’t want him to run. But this poll has to send shockwaves; he just announced for the presidency. You’re supposed to go up when you announce, not down,” he added.
'POTENTIAL TITANIC': Pollster Mark Penn warns Biden's low approval will 'send shockwaves' through the White House. https://t.co/f5Hbp3JYVa pic.twitter.com/o0O5tWjN67
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 8, 2023
Upon being asked what could have caused Biden’s six-point drop in approval rating, Penn pointed to Biden’s reelection announcement.
“I think that the announcement. I think that the fact that he said he’s running for president when less than 40 percent of Democrats really support his reelection,” Penn explained.
“Remember, they rushed out this announcement. It was supposed to be in July. That would have given everyone an opportunity to see how he’s doing and not freeze the field. Instead, he froze the field in the Democratic Party, everybody’s got to support him now, and with numbers like this, they’re looking at a potential Titanic,” he added.
CNN reported that Biden’s 36% approval rating is lower than any other president in their first term during the last 80 years.
The Washington Post/ABC News poll also found that 63% of Americans don’t believe Biden has the mental ability to “effectively serve as president.” More than 60% also said they don’t think Biden has the physical endurance to serve as president.
The poll shows former President Donald Trump leading Biden 49-42% in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup. Over 1,000 American adults were sampled for the survey, with a margin of error of less than 5%.
