SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Things are not going well for President Biden right now. Let's give a quick recap. Yesterday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he is a no on Biden's signature bill, the wide-ranging Build Back Better proposal. The move, after months of negotiations, appeared to take the White House by surprise. The possible dead end to Biden's climate proposals and plans to expand pre-K, among many other things, comes as COVID cases spike across the country. There could soon be more cases than ever before, all on the watch of a president who vowed to get the virus under control. And here's one more thing - a brand-new NPR poll shows the public support for Biden appears to be waning further. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is with us to talk about it. Good morning, Domenico.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: So I think I know the answer here, but how do you see things going for President Biden right now?
MONTANARO: Well, it really does feel like he's kind of going backwards somewhat. I mean, a main piece of his agenda has now been derailed by Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and we're talking about the coronavirus again as the main issue in the country. Health officials are warning that people traveling for the holidays and how quickly the omicron variant is spreading, that with all that, we're likely to see spikes again in the number of people who get sick. Already we're seeing schools, sports leagues, theaters, all facing cancellations. It's really turned in, Scott, to another COVID winter. It feels like more like the beginning of the year rather than that summer of freedom that the White House had been hoping for. And, you know, look, fixing COVID, as you alluded to, is a main reason for Biden getting elected. But the pandemic, rising inflation, they've been main drivers for why the public is judging the president so poorly. And, you know, this morning, we have this new data from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist that shows Biden's approval rating is just 41%, the lowest we've recorded since Biden took office. And worse yet for him, he's off track with independents. Just 29% of them approve of the job he's doing.
DETROW: Twenty-nine percent - wow. Biden is expected to talk more about this latest surge, giving a speech tomorrow. What should we expect to hear?'
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/20/1065...itical-agenda-and-covid-19-new-npr-poll-shows
The salient part:
"...we have this new data from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist that shows Biden's approval rating is just 41%, the lowest we've recorded since Biden took office. And worse yet for him, he's off track with independents. Just 29% of them approve of the job he's doing."
Things are not going well for President Biden right now. Let's give a quick recap. Yesterday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he is a no on Biden's signature bill, the wide-ranging Build Back Better proposal. The move, after months of negotiations, appeared to take the White House by surprise. The possible dead end to Biden's climate proposals and plans to expand pre-K, among many other things, comes as COVID cases spike across the country. There could soon be more cases than ever before, all on the watch of a president who vowed to get the virus under control. And here's one more thing - a brand-new NPR poll shows the public support for Biden appears to be waning further. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is with us to talk about it. Good morning, Domenico.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: So I think I know the answer here, but how do you see things going for President Biden right now?
MONTANARO: Well, it really does feel like he's kind of going backwards somewhat. I mean, a main piece of his agenda has now been derailed by Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and we're talking about the coronavirus again as the main issue in the country. Health officials are warning that people traveling for the holidays and how quickly the omicron variant is spreading, that with all that, we're likely to see spikes again in the number of people who get sick. Already we're seeing schools, sports leagues, theaters, all facing cancellations. It's really turned in, Scott, to another COVID winter. It feels like more like the beginning of the year rather than that summer of freedom that the White House had been hoping for. And, you know, look, fixing COVID, as you alluded to, is a main reason for Biden getting elected. But the pandemic, rising inflation, they've been main drivers for why the public is judging the president so poorly. And, you know, this morning, we have this new data from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist that shows Biden's approval rating is just 41%, the lowest we've recorded since Biden took office. And worse yet for him, he's off track with independents. Just 29% of them approve of the job he's doing.
DETROW: Twenty-nine percent - wow. Biden is expected to talk more about this latest surge, giving a speech tomorrow. What should we expect to hear?'
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/20/1065...itical-agenda-and-covid-19-new-npr-poll-shows
The salient part:
"...we have this new data from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist that shows Biden's approval rating is just 41%, the lowest we've recorded since Biden took office. And worse yet for him, he's off track with independents. Just 29% of them approve of the job he's doing."
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