OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden did not get an entirely warm welcome during a visit to a key electoral battleground state on Friday, with several people heckling him in public.
Biden, 81, visited Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was met with cries of “Go home, Joe!” and “You’re a loser!” among other things, the New York Post reported.
Later, opponents of his support for Israel’s war against Hamas pledged he would pay a price for it in November.
“We will remember in November,” the group chanted near a firefighter training center — also adding, “No vote for genocide Joe.”
Biden made the stopover en route to Camp David, Md., for a weekend retreat, The Post added.
A confused Biden caresses the flag before shuffling into the next business — and as hecklers call him a "loser" pic.twitter.com/7ejsDJaLu1
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 12, 2024
Also, Fox News host Laura Ingraham highlighted the visit while also documenting more cognitive problems the aged commander-in-chief has experienced lately during a show segment late last week.
WATCH:
A prominent strategist at JPMorgan Chase asserted last week that Biden will withdraw from the 2024 race before Election Day, implying that there may already be preparations in motion for such an eventuality.
Michael Cembalest, who leads the financial giant’s market and investment strategy unit in JPMorgan Chase’s asset management division, believes Biden, 81, will leave the race “sometime between Super Tuesday and the November election, citing health concerns.”
Super Tuesday, set for March 5, encompasses primary elections in over a dozen states, including California, Texas, Massachusetts, Vermont, and North Carolina. In the modern era, the candidate who secures the majority of Super Tuesday primaries is typically seen as the frontrunner and the eventual nominee of the party.
Cembalest justified his prediction by citing Biden’s taking approval rating, especially for a president who can claim “around 10% job creation since his inauguration,” though much if not most of that was caused by Americans returning to the workforce after lengthy COVID shutdowns, which Cembalest noted in a forecast letter to investors and clients.
He didn’t predict who would take Biden’s spot but predicted it would be “a replacement candidate named by the Democratic National Committee.”
Conventional wisdom points to Vice President Kamala Harris as the logical successor, but she faces significant unpopularity. According to the political analysis site FiveThirtyEight, her disapproval rating stands at 55%, surpassing even Biden’s level of unpopularity.
That said, “Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and self-help author Marianne Williamson are the only other Democrats who have declared their candidacies,” the New York Post noted.
Biden is trailing Trump by margins ranging from four to ten percentage points in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to a recent battleground state survey. Biden led only in Wisconsin by two percentage points. Across the six battlegrounds—all of which Biden carried in 2020—the president trails by an average of 48 to 44 percent.
In a Times/Siena College poll in December, for example, discontent was pervasive; most respondents claim that Biden’s policies have negatively impacted them personally, the New York Times reported.
The survey results revealed a wide range of Biden’s shortcomings, and worries about the president’s aging and mental capacity are just the beginning. Sixty-two percent of respondents felt that Biden lacked the “mental sharpness” necessary to be an effective leader.
The poll also showed how much the coalition of different races and generations that supported Biden in his election is eroding. Now, there is much more competition among the demographic groups that supported Biden by wide margins in 2020 because two-thirds of voters believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction.
Biden’s lead among Hispanic voters is in the single digits; his advantage in urban areas is half of Trump’s edge in rural areas; and he is only slightly preferred by voters under thirty.
