Samuel Case, FISM News
A new CNN poll found that 71% of Americans said they had a positive reaction to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, but there is a catch – only 41% said they had a “very positive” reaction, which CNN says “matches the previous low in CNN’s speech reaction polls dating back to 1998.”
“Both Donald Trump and Barack Obama also saw higher enthusiasm for their speeches during their second years in office: 48% of those who tuned in for Trump’s 2018 State of the Union were very positive, as were an identical 48% of those who watched Obama’s 2010 address,” CNN reports.
It’s also a dramatic drop from the last time Biden gave a joint address to Congress in April of last year, in which 78% said they had a positive reaction, and 51% said they had a very positive reaction.
For further context this year’s State of the Union audience was skewed Democratic by 11 points, with the outlet noting that “Good marks are typical for presidential addresses to Congress, as such speeches tend to attract generally friendly audiences.”
CNN’s Political Director, David Chalian, said the polling shows that Biden is not only losing support from the general public but with Democrats as well.
Attitudes towards Biden priorities did increase among independents: “just 30% in that group said Biden had the right priorities in pre-speech interviews, rising to 48% after his address.”
CNN did note, however, that “State of the Union addresses rarely have [a] major, lasting impact on presidents’ approval numbers.”