MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch said Wednesday on “Morning Joe” that the newly released Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll on President Joe Biden is “freaking” him out and says Democrats need to start instilling fear into voters if they want to beat former President Donald Trump.
The poll found Trump leading Biden by 11 points on the question of who had a better record. Trump also led Biden by 10 points in perceived mental fitness to hold office. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, with a majority disapproving of Biden’s handling of the economy.
The poll surveyed 1,500 registered voters between Aug. 24 and 30 and had a 2.5% margin of error. (RELATED: MSNBC’s Kornacki Warns Biden Approval Rating Is In ‘Perilous Territory’)
Scarborough noted a recent substack by Joe Klein that said Democrats feel a growing sense of frustration, as they desire more energy from Biden. Klein also said Biden’s key appeal seems to be that he’s not Trump.
“‘Biden is a ghost of what the country needs right now,’ and a lot of Democrats, Willie, are saying, in fact, most Democrats, let’s be honest, are saying, in panic mode, American democracy is on the line,” Scarborough said. “Do we really want to just cross our fingers and hope for the best? That’s what they’re saying.”
Co-host Willie Geist then said that while age remains a question for Biden, the alternative to him is “unclear.” Geist then complained that the WSJ poll showed Americans think Trump has a better list of accomplishments.
“Think about that for a minute, and by eight points he has a better vision for the future than Joe Biden, as all he does is talk about an election that happened three years ago,” Geist said.
“Yeah, that was the thing that jumped out at me. On the economy, on immigration, on issues, Donald Trump on issues and all we talk about is cult of personality but I just wonder if there is a blurring in there in that because of his personality that somehow that translates this kind of like screw everything, everything sucks, you suck, that somehow that umbrella becomes issues. Look, there was something that you guys said in that lead-up and I kind of want to bridge the gap a little between Joe and Mika, is ‘not Donald Trump’,” Deutsch said.
“You know, that is unfortunately that is I think going to be – if I’m running the campaign is the fear of the end of democracy. Is the fear of a woman’s right to choose, of the fear of basically who we are ending and just make it quiet competence, boring to Molly’s point, boring, yes, but versus the chaos, versus the uncertainty, the fear of where Donald Trump could take us unfettered in the next term. That’s what we got. That’s what we got. We do not have that fire and brimstone leader. It’s not who he is and let’s play to the authenticity of who he is which is an accomplished, seasoned, well, well, well, well-documented success and that’s what we got, guys. And it’s scary. I’m not saying I’m not scared. I’m not saying that ‘Wall Street Journal’ poll … didn’t freak me out. I am freaked out. I got to tell you but the Democrats have got to get behind who we have at this point and just make it about the fear of Donald Trump.”
Other polling has indicated that voters are souring on the Biden administration, with one poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and commissioned by The Associated Press placing Biden’s approval rating on the economy at just 36 percent.