WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris thinks the Biden administration’s historically poor approval ratings would improve if more people knew about his “historic accomplishments,” she told Katie Couric this week.
The “CBS Evening News” anchor’s sit-in on the “Today” show and “Next Question” podcast took place a day before the release of a new Gallup poll that showed Biden with an average approval rating of 39.8% during his third year in office.
Only Jimmy Carter, who averaged a 37.4% approval rating in 1979, fared worse in the polls over the same period before losing 44 states to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.
Asked by Couric for an explanation, Harris claimed that “we’ve had a lot of accomplishments, and I think what the American people want most in their leaders is that we actually get things done, and we’ve done that.
“We don’t take enough credit for it, frankly, and we need to do a better job of getting the word out about what we’ve accomplished and who’s done it,” added the veep, who later reiterated that “it’s our Duty to tell people who brought it to them, frankly.”
Vice President Kamala Harris thinks Biden’s dismal ratings would improve if more Americans knew about the administration’s “historic accomplishments.” Youtube/Katie Couric
Those accomplishments, Harris claimed in a long-winded soliloquy, include piecemeal student loan debt forgiveness and capping the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month.
“We have a historic achievement in terms of the economy, what we have done to move forward,” he said. “It’s science, technology and investment in the American workforce, improving the American workforce, raising wages, lowering prices. Historic work has happened, no question.”
Podcaster Katie Couric hears a quote from Kamala Harris. YouTube/Katie Couric
Harris made no mention of inflation remaining stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target — reaching 3.4% for the 12 months ending in December — while average real incomes have yet to match.
Biden’s approval ratings have been underwater since the disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, according to Gallup, and have been further weighed down by dissatisfaction with the economy, global crises including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and record levels of illegal immigration.
On the latter issue, Couric tried to throw Harris a lifeline, telling him that he was “irresponsible for the border,” despite being tapped by Biden in March 2021 to address the “root causes” of mass migration.
“There is no question that our immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed. And as with any problem, leaders will participate — real leaders — in the solution,” replied Harris. “So I’m going to take you back to about three years ago, I think the day after our inauguration, when Joe Biden came in as president and I was vice president. The first bill we offered was a bill to fix the immigration system.”
After Couric pointed out that Democrats had control of both houses of Congress at the time, Harris ignored her interviewer and continued: “And Congress didn’t take it up. This, first of all, is not a new issue. But unfortunately, it has become very partisan and the subject political game, while the solution is close. And we offer an early solution and invite bipartisan work to solve this problem.
“In fact, we now have a proposal for $14 billion so that we can put more resources into dealing with this situation. And we’re trying to force, in particular, some Republicans in Congress to participate in the settlement. But unfortunately, we want to fix it and they want to run it. They want the political issue to drag on in November.”
Other presidents with approval ratings below 50% during their third full year in office include Richard Nixon, Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, according to Gallup. Of the four, only Trump was not re-elected.
Meanwhile, George HW Bush, who averaged 69.5% approval between January 1991 and January 1992, was defeated in a reelection attempt by Clinton.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
