January 1, Inside Joe Biden’s ‘Disastrous’ 48 Hours

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
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President Joe Biden is reeling from a tumultuous 48 hours that handed his administration various defeats.

First, a new poll found that the president’s approval rating has hit an all-time low of 33%. The staggeringly low number is significant considering that Biden received a record-breaking 88 million votes, more than any other presidential candidate in history, according to The Hill. Biden’s approval rating was 55% when he entered office almost one year ago.

Then, the Labor Department announced that inflation is now sitting at its highest point since 1982.

The following day, as Biden headed toward Capitol Hill to urge congressional Democrats to pass voting rights legislation, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) declared she would not support eliminating or altering the filibuster.

Shortly after the president got word that Sinema had effectively delivered a death blow to his plan to pass two sweeping election reform bills, the Supreme Court handed him another loss, blocking the administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large employers.

Opinion contributor for The Hill, Joe Concha, summarized the events like this: “The economy is crippled by high prices and not-so-transitory inflation. The president is rebuffed (again) by a member of his own party on a major initiative. And then his vaccine mandate is struck down by a 6-3 decision in the Supreme Court. All in less than 48 hours.” 

Meanwhile, a reporter asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about the current sentiment that things aren’t going well for the Biden administration.

“Frankly, things just seem like they’re going pretty poorly right now for the White House,” the reporter said, before citing Build Back Better’s stalled progress, the voting rights reforms failing, and unsuccessful diplomatic conversations with Russia. “You seem to be stymied on an incredible number of problems right now,” he added.

Psaki dismissed the concerns raised and instead offered a “different take” on the current situation, listing off various things like more than 200 million Americans being vaccinated, low unemployment rates, and the passing of the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

“So the sense is things are going well; there’s no need for change right now?” the reporter said.

“We could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream, but that wouldn’t be very rewarding for the American people,” Psaki replied.

Reporter: "So the sense is things are going well [at the White House], there's no need for change right now?"

Jen Psaki: "We could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream, but that wouldn't be very rewarding for the American people." pic.twitter.com/LXO5s2duPM

— The Hill (@thehill) January 14, 2022

Psaki’s flippant response was largely panned, leaving many Americans feeling like the administration “hates us.”

They hate ushttps://t.co/frFHRCqW2z

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) January 14, 2022

Gaslight, Girlboss, Gatekeep… https://t.co/yRRWEaEvTQ

— @[email protected] (@Imani_Barbarin) January 14, 2022

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Biden reeling after major losses on filibuster, vaccines and more to start 2022