OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden, like every other Democratic president, tends to get better treatment from the legacy media than do Republican commanders-in-chief, but in recent weeks, the same media who have been covering for Biden appear to have turned on him.
That includes CNN, which featured a brutal — and surprisingly honest — assessment of Biden’s presidency this week as the 2024 campaign cycle begins in earnest.
During Thursday’s “Inside Politics” show, host Dana Bash provided some sobering facts about Biden based on a brutal new survey from the network.
“There is no way to spin this. CNN reads the country’s mood right now and finds that America is deeply unhappy with Joe Biden. Most Democratic voters hope for change at the top of the ticket, and Americans don’t take the president and his word when he talks about his son Hunter,” she said as the show opened.
“Our new poll has important new takeaways about 2024. There is deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the incumbent and the direction he is taking the country. There are even deeper doubts about if Mr. Biden is up to the job again,” she added before bringing in CNN Political Director David Chalian.
“This is setting off alarm bells inside the Biden campaign in the White House,” he responded, citing the network’s survey. “Overall, his approval rating is down now at 39 percent approved, so more than six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job he’s doing. And you see, he’s been hovering here for a little bit, Dana, since the spring.
“You mentioned that Democrats would like somebody other than Biden as the nominee of their party. That is dramatic. So, two-thirds of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters say that they would like a different candidate to be the Democratic nominee,” Chalian added.
In the past 24 hours Van Jones, Jake Tapper, James Carville, and Erin Burnett have all trashed Biden's reelection bid. The DNC has officially put a hit out on Biden and as always, they're using their media hitmen to whack the target. Dude is FINISHED.
— Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) September 8, 2023
“Only a third of Democrats and Democratic leaners say they want Joe Biden to be the nominee. And we asked this open-ended question of Democrats and Democratic leaners. What is your biggest concern about a Biden candidacy? It’s not even close, Dana,” he added. “Forty-nine percent say it’s his age, 7 percent mental sharpness, 7 percent health ability to do the job. This is all related to Joe Biden being the oldest president currently serving and obviously asking the country to renew his contract for four more years beyond next year.”
Bash then pressed Chalian on what a potential rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump looked like based on the survey.
“It’s is a dead heat race basically, 47 percent Trump, 46 percent Biden. This is the first time we at CNN this cycle have tested a general election matchup like this. And this is no clear leader, well within the margin of error, a real dead heat contest. And you know what, it’s not a contest many Americans are all that psyched about,” he said.
“And Dana, look at some of these attributes for the president. He doesn’t have majority support for any of them. 45 percent of Americans say he cares about people like you, 33 percent say they’re proud to have Biden as a president. Only 28 percent of Americans say that the president inspires confidence,” he noted further.
Meanwhile, a former staffer and advisor for former President Obama, who many credit with getting him elected, has sounded the alarm on Biden’s possible election rematch with Trump.
Jim Messina gave a 22-slide presentation to fellow Democrats to reassure them that the president was on the correct path to be elected again in 2024, but what he said to Politico should leave them anything but reassured.
“I thought it was important to say to my friends and clients and other people, let’s just take a step back and try to be really number-specific and really sort of who has what cards in their poker hand,” he said.
“Every day, it seems, there’s new fodder for Democrats looking to freak out about President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects: Sagging public views of the economy. Persistent voter concerns about Biden’s age. And erosion in the president’s standing among key minority groups, to name a few,” he said. “Historically, we’re f***ing bedwetters.”
