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NBC News reported Monday that President Biden was gearing up for the midterm elections as Democrats criticize him for not taking advantage of his platform as president, with one Democratic lawmaker saying, “I don’t know where he is.”
“There’s a benefit to having the president out there every day using his executive power to show the country you’re fighting for them,” an anonymous Democratic congressman told NBC News. “And it’s almost like he’s hiding. He has the bully pulpit, and he’s either hiding behind it or under it. I don’t know where he is.”
The congressman told the outlet Biden needs to “change course” because his approval rating is “in the toilet.”
BIDEN’S POLITICAL STANDING A ‘STEEP SLIDE’ FROM LAST JULY 4, ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
“Whatever he’s doing is not working,” the congressman said. The president and his administration are having a hard time responding to skyrocketing inflation and high gas prices as well as the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs case.
White House economic adviser Brian Deese said Friday that high gas prices were important to the future of the “liberal world order.”
“What you heard from the president today was a clear articulation of the stakes. This is about the future of the liberal world order, and we have to stand firm,” Deese said, referring to Biden’s comments about having to pay the high price of gas as long as it takes to win the war in Ukraine.
The administration is reportedly gearing up to use Biden’s platform more effectively and plans to focus on the GOP and framing the party as appearing out of touch.
“I can tell you that on the street, what you hear is a bubbling, seething cauldron of anger at the Republican Party for putting in these antediluvian judges who think they can take us back to the 18th century,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, D., told NBC. “My spidey sense and the polling indicate it’s going to help people decide not to vote for the red team.”
The president hopes to capitalize on public frustration with the Supreme Court and push the message that former President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were to blame for the court’s conservative majority, according to the NBC report.
“You will see them [Biden administration officials] having a sharper message as we get close to the fall,” an ally to the president said to NBC. “That message will revolve around painting the Republican Party as extreme and doing things that are actively hurting peoples’ lives. Is there a strong enough message now? Probably not. But they know that.”
The report noted that some of Biden’s advisers and other Democrats believed abortion will help them in the midterm elections. It noted some polling that showed some Democrats were up in generic ballot polls as Biden’s approval rating remains the same.
Democrats have expressed concern over Biden’s leadership ability as 2024 gets closer. Some have suggested Biden is “an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024,” the New York Times reported in June.
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The New York Times reported at the end of June that Biden was becoming more annoyed with questions surrounding him running in 2024. He and his aides reportedly described the speculation as “a lack of respect from their party and the press.”