Dazed & Confused: CNN Host ‘Puzzled’ By Biden’s Unpopularity

On Sunday morning, Fareed Zakaria opened his eponymous CNN show with a bizarre opening statement claiming he was “puzzled” by President Biden’s unpopularity.

At the show’s open, Zakaria led off the segment exclaiming:

Joe Biden’s ineligibility is something I must admit to being puzzled by. With the exception of Donald Trump, he’s finishing his first year at the White House with one of the lowest approval ratings for any president in modern history. What is the reason for this? Biden is genial and likable. Many of the policies he’s pursued have been popular, even some with Republican support. Economically, the country is performing reasonably well.

Equally delusional was Zakaria’s suggestion that Biden’s decline in approval ratings have “coincided with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rise of Delta, and the onset of inflation”This is not directly related to Afghanistan’s disastrous withdrawal. It was caused instead by rampant inflation as well as the steady rise of the Delta variant. 

Instead, Zakaria deduced that “Perhaps Biden’s 11 point drop from roughly 56 percent after his first 100 days in office to 45 percent today, is a natural result of his inherent lack of political capital.”

“Fast growth!However, the slow pace of the global economy’s recovery after prolonged periods of paralysis inducing has created huge logjams.” He argued. Then he admitted that some of the problems could be traced back to Biden. This was not true, as the job growth rates were at best slow.

Zakaria concluded the segment by giving Biden credit for his performance as President, while suggesting that Americans are too eager to please their presidents.

Presidents get rewarded often for being there in the good times. Joe Biden is a man who has done his job well with intelligence and good decency. But he will have to pay the cost for this complicated time.

Oh ok, so Biden is just a bystander and isn’t responsible for anything that’s happening in the country?

It’s almost hard to believe that someone can be this out of touch with reality. Biden may be considered genial and likable to some but honest observers will all admit that our nation’s economy is not “doing reasonably well economically”. Also, inflation doesn’t just happen to a country, it is made possible by bad economic policies.

Someone should’ve explained this to Fareed Zakaria before he went on television this morning and embarrassed himself. 

Simplisafe, InventHelp brought this segment about a CNN host who claims he’s “puzzled by Biden’s popularity.” This link allows you to contact them regarding the bias news they support. 

For the complete transcript, click on “expand”. 

Fareed Zakaria GPS

12/19/2021

10:00:26 am

FAREED ZAKARIA – But first, here is “My take”. It is a mystery to me why Joe Biden has been so unpopular. With the exception of Donald Trump, he’s finishing his first year at the White House with one of the lowest approval ratings for any president in modern history. What is the reason for this? Biden is genial and likable. Many of the policies he’s pursued have been popular, even some with Republican support. Economic indicators such as declining unemployment, a rising stock market and low interest rates show that the country is performing reasonably well. Why is he at only 45 percent according to the CNN poll average?

One must remember, however, that Biden is not an accident President. Biden was elected because of two factors, none of which have much to do his popularity. His selection as the Vice President of Barack Obama instantly raised him up in the Democratic party. Donald Trump. These two elements would have made it difficult for Biden to be in the White House if they weren’t present. Biden didn’t do well in the last two presidential elections. In 1987, his second attempt ended in an abrupt withdrawal after three and a half months. But even then, he was far behind the Democratic field in polling.

Although he was more consistent in his second campaign, his poll numbers were poor. A poll released about a month before he dropped out in January 2008 had him at about 4 percent among registered Democrats and his showing in the Iowa caucuses was under 1 percent. One of two types of Democratic Presidents are successful: they either have charismatic outsiders who can energize the country, as John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama or they come from the South and bridge the divide between south and north, just like Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and vice versa. Bill Clinton used both to his advantage, achieving one of the highest average approval ratings among Democrats since John Kennedy. Technically, Clinton shares Johnson’s tie with Johnson. His ratings during Kennedy’s first years were high after his assassination but plummeted over the course of his term.

Biden is not a model and does not have huge political capital and popularity. Perhaps for that reason, he’s struggled to inspire or ignite the party and the country.

To be honest, Presidents today have a harder time doing that because of the polarized world. No Democrat nor Republican will be able to win more than 50% of the country’s approval. This is a very different world from that in which Obama or George H.W. were. Bush was able to achieve staggering numbers.

Perhaps Biden’s 11 point drop from roughly 56 percent after his first 100 days in office to 45 percent today, is a natural result of his inherent lack of political capital. However, it seems like there have been other influences. His biggest drop in popularity was Summer 2021. This coincided with his withdrawal from Afghanistan and Delta’s rise.

Although it’s hard to discern which one was the most significant, they all seem to have collectively had an effect on telling Americans that things were not returning to normal. Recent New York Times article, Nate Cohen explains the flaws behind the assumption that if Biden’s programs are popular, so should be the President.

This thinking depends on an electorate who carefully examines all the proposals, weighs the evidence, chooses carefully and supports the bills they like. This is how many people think about politics, especially those who are involved in Twitter, watch TV, and follow opinion columns. All those voters are a minority.

Cohen points out, voters, which Cohen means general voters seem to reward presidents for presideing over peace, prosperity, and justice. Normalcy is a simple word. The President is generally viewed favorably by voters when things seem to be going well. The White House is often disillusioned, even if things are going well. 

The best way to sum up the situation is that it’s complex. While the world seems to be at peace, Americans are able to see that America is not the only superpower. Afghanistan’s withdrawal served as a stark reminder of this fact. While growth is returning quickly, restarting the global economic system after prolonged periods of induced paralysis caused massive logjams. Some of these logjams can be attributed to Biden. Inflation is rising faster than ever before, which has had a negative impact on the presidential approval ratings. Nationally, violence was on the rise in 2020. This pandemic did not end with a bang, but it has continued to wax and wane, causing anxiety right when normalcy seemed safe.

Presidents get rewarded often for being there in the good times. Joe Biden is a man who has done his job well with intelligence and good decency. But he will have to pay the cost for this complicated time.