Despite Worst Approval Ratings, Biden 'Refuses to Concede'... WP Asks, "Do You Want to See a President as a Felon?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Although President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming U.S. presidential election this November, is showing lower approval ratings, he has not acknowledged this. Amid this, the progressive U.S. media outlet The Washington Post (WP) drew attention on the 16th (local time) by publishing an editorial urging "President Biden to humbly accept the poll results and devise countermeasures."

According to an analysis by election analytics firm FiveThirtyEight, which compiled and analyzed dozens of recent polls, President Biden's approval rating was about 38%. This is approximately 1 percentage point lower than that of the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, and is the lowest approval rating among presidents in decades.

WP reported, "Election campaigns, including President Biden's and Democratic strategists, have not understood such low approval ratings." This is because the U.S. economy has enjoyed the best boom among developed countries, with the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow Jones indices reaching all-time highs this year and inflation easing. Typically, a U.S. president's approval rating is significantly influenced by whether economic growth is achieved.

Accordingly, President Biden appears to be denying the poll results. In a recent CNN interview, he said, "The polling data has been wrong all along," and at a meeting with donors on the 10th of last month, he also claimed, "The media doesn't want to write about this, but the momentum is clearly in our favor."

Regarding this, WP criticized, "This is not an attitude that can form the foundation of a presidential campaign." Of course, distortions and biases can occur in all polls due to sampling errors, but WP pointed out that if the results themselves are denied on this basis, it could become a turning point for a change in administration. Notably, WP drew attention by referring to former President Trump as a "felonious president." This is interpreted as a direct reference to the fact that former President Trump became the first U.S. president in history to be convicted in a criminal trial this month on charges related to hush money for a sexual misconduct scandal.

WP stated, "If the phrase 'It's the economy, stupid' is correct, it may be good for former President Biden, but many Americans say otherwise." WP emphasized, "Voting is an emotional and personal act and is not necessarily determined by a careful evaluation of macroeconomic indicators," and added, "Former President Biden should assume the poll results are correct and act accordingly rather than dismissing them as wrong."