We’re four months out from the November midterm elections, and with generic Congressional ballot polling continuing to favor Republicans, and with Joe Biden’s rock bottom approval ratings languishing in the basement, frantic Democrats including those in Biden’s inner circle have increasingly relied on First Lady Jill Biden to come to the rescue of a party that is clearly on the ropes.
But as the recent “breakfast taco” debacle demonstrated, “Dr.” Jill Biden can come off just as clueless and out of touch as her husband often does during public appearances, which leaves the Biden White House with even fewer options headed into the fall campaign season.
And a new poll released Monday puts even more of a damper on Democrat hopes that Jill Biden can salvage her husband’s presidency – and their fall electoral chances – at this stage in the game: First Lady Jill Biden has seen her approval ratings drop 24 points in the past year and a half, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released this week.
When asked whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Mrs. Biden, 34% had a favorable opinion of her while 29% had an unfavorable one. Another 37% said they were unsure.
When asked that question by the same poll team in January 2021, 58% said they had a favorable opinion of Mrs. Biden.
Throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, Jill Biden has increasingly had to step in and run interference as President Biden’s penchant for gaffes and flubs, and just generally looking out of it at times during speaking engagements has only gotten worse. Perhaps most notably, Mrs. Biden has sometimes had to correct her husband in the way he has wrongly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris. At certain points, Jill Biden has also played “director” in showing him which way he has to go when either being led off a stage or when he has to remain seated.