Editors at the Washington Examiner assess the president’s electoral challenges.
A slew of new polls had nothing but bad news for President Joe Biden this weekend, but the worst development may have come from Saturday Night Live. The longest-running sketch comedy show opened with CNN’s Dana Bash asking a string of Biden sympathizers about his age, and they all parroted the now-familiar line, in a way clearly meant as absurd, that “behind closed doors, Joe is incredible,” or “a whirlwind,” or “a dynamo,” or “strong.”
No matter how much Democrats may wish it were not so, Biden’s obvious mental decline has become a punchline. And the polls from this weekend only show voters agree with the reality SNL is lampooning.
In the CBS News poll, which has former President Donald Trump beating Biden 52% to 48%, only 32% of voters said Biden had the necessary “mental cognitive health” to be president.
The New York Times had Trump up 48% to 44%, with 72% of voters and 53% of Democrats saying Biden is “too old to be effective” as president.
Fox News had Trump up just 43% to 41%, but only 62% said Biden had the “mental soundness” needed to be president, and the Wall Street Journal had Trump up 47% to 45%, with 61% saying Biden was not “mentally up for the job of president.”
Claims from young surrogates about how mentally sharp Biden is “behind closed doors” are not going to turn these numbers around.
Not that the policy case for Biden is any stronger. Asked to rate the economy under Trump versus the economy under Biden, 65% told CBS News the economy was good under Trump compared to just 38% under Biden. Asked by the New York Times if Trump’s policies helped people personally, 42% said Trump’s policies helped, compared to just 20% for Biden. Fox News respondents similarly reported that Trump’s policies were more helpful than Biden’s policies by a 2-1 margin.
