President Joe Biden saw no boost in the polls from his highly anticipated State of the Union address.
Ahead of the March 2024 State of the Union address, the Biden reelection campaign was reportedly preparing to use the speech as a reset while the president flails in the polls, Axios reported. But despite the hope for Biden’s speech, it appears to have fallen flat as the president’s approval rating has seen no bump since his big address, according to the FiveThirtyEight project.
On March 7, one day before Biden’s State of the Union address, his approval rating sat at 38.1%, according to the FiveThirtyEight project. As of March 12, five days after the speech, the president’s approval rating has fallen to 37.4%, the FiveThirtyEight project shows.
The president’s approval rating as of March 12 is the lowest it has been since taking office in 2021, according to the FiveThirtyEight project.
Biden has seen no State of the Union poll bump yet. In fact, today’s updated approval rating average is a new all-time lowhttps://t.co/hBrpbNmo7Q pic.twitter.com/kDP2Fc4xjK
— G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) March 12, 2024
Before the address, allies of the president saw it as a make-or-break moment, Axios reported. Some Democrats voiced their concerns that Biden might commit one of his infamous gaffes while others remained confident that the president would perform well, though understanding how important the moment was.
“We are all nervous,” a House Democrat told Axios, referencing worries about Biden’s “ability to speak without blowing things.”
Biden sounds like an elderly man arguing with his family because they’re trying to convince him he shouldn’t drive. He yells. He raises his voice. He mumbles his words. That’s what we’re watching tonight.
In November, we’ll see if he gets the keys for another 4 years.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) March 8, 2024
Biden kicked off his State of the Union address talking about Ukraine, the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the COVID-19 pandemic, topics that the American public has previously expressed in the polls to be low on their list of priorities.
Though Biden made it through the speech with limited errors, he did botch the name of the 22-year-old allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant. Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene called out to Biden during the address, demanding that he say the name of Laken Riley, the deceased woman. The president took out a pin with the words “say her name” and botched Riley’s first name, instead calling her “Lincoln.”
“Lincoln. Lincoln Riley,” Biden said, holding up a pin with the late female’s name. “The innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right.”
Biden refers to Laken Riley — a 22-year-old Georgia student murdered by an illegal alien his administration let in — as “Lincoln.” pic.twitter.com/oVokg8n2IX
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 8, 2024
And since, the president has admitted that he regretted referring to Riley’s alleged killer as an “illegal immigrant,” saying that he should have instead called him “undocumented.”
INSANE!
Joe Biden expresses he doesn’t want to “disrespect” Laken Riley’s murderer by calling him an “illegal” rather than the preferred “undocumented.” pic.twitter.com/VQbciE8jaA
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) March 10, 2024
Biden currently trails Trump in hypothetical matchups across key swing states. The president is also battling concerns about his age, something the State of the Union sought to address, as at least 66% of American voters are worried about Biden’s age and health ahead of the 2024 election, according to a Feb. 6 NBC poll. (RELATED: KJP Reads From Prepared List Of Times Republicans Misspoke To Argue Joe Biden Is Mentally Fit)
“Now some other people my age see a different story. An American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me,” the 81-year-old said during his State of the Union address, before going on to boast about the experience he has because of his age.