In a new Politico piece this morning, Christopher Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López discuss Joe Biden’s ongoing struggle to get out of this “coronavirus malaise” he’s in:
ATLANTA — In a focus group last week, Pennsylvania Democrats one after another articulated the issue vexing top White House aides, party operatives in Virginia and voters in Georgia: Why isn’t President Joe Biden’s diminished job rating rebounding?
All nine participants from Tuesday’s session gave Biden C- grades or lower. And their answers circled back to a similar point: The pandemic and the many ways it continues to hinder normal life is souring their views of Biden.
Politico Washington and politics managing editor — and soon-to-be New York Times On Politics editor — Blake Hounshell shared the piece, but not before summing it up like so:
Biden is trapped in a coronavirus malaise, and voters in one focus group seem to be blaming him — not Republicans or anti-vaxxers — for the country’s failure to return to normal. https://t.co/i4siwQ52SY
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) October 11, 2021
Can you believe those Democrats are blaming Joe Biden, the President of the United States, for our country’s failure to return to normal in 2021? Can you believe they’re not blaming Republicans and anti-vaxxers? Or our country itself?
Crazy, right?
The passive voice was used, a victim of circumstances beyond anyone’s control or expectations.
— Razor (@hale_razor) October 11, 2021
Joe Biden was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, if you really think about it.
Probably because he's the president who is racking up all these failures
— Ahmed Al Asliken (@assliken) October 11, 2021
Blake, he even said the buck stopped with him https://t.co/EbLibpC4sd
— Ahmed Al Asliken (@assliken) October 11, 2021
Biden literally campaigned on “shutting down the virus.” And journalists are perplexed that voters remember. https://t.co/Vs6gMlB3k6
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) October 11, 2021
We all heard him. Multiple times.
https://t.co/EbLibpC4sd pic.twitter.com/jpRxfH4c3R
— Ahmed Al Asliken (@assliken) October 11, 2021
"trapped" pic.twitter.com/mYVF8ixtcd
— Joey Postlewaite (@JoeyPostlewaite) October 11, 2021
I wonder why? It’s a mystery. pic.twitter.com/ZS2Jm3YTuR
— R O B (@foreverbuff84) October 11, 2021
Was he just speaking metaphorically or something, Blake?
Republicans didn’t force Biden to promise that he would “shut down” the virus if elected, but he did! https://t.co/fn55wsuILX
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) October 11, 2021
He also promised to cure cancer, so don’t forget about that!
So you’re saying that everyone is blaming the guy in charge, that he promised to fix everything but he really lied🤦♂️
— Dave Hollon (@DaveHollon) October 11, 2021
Don’t you hate it when that happens?
Biden promised that the country would return to normal. You can't expect voters to not remember that campaign promise. https://t.co/2Vl7OXsRNL
— Joe Cunningham (@JoePCunningham) October 11, 2021
That’s because he sucks at his job.
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) October 11, 2021
