ABC's Klein Admits Biden 'A Serious Drag' on Dems, Frets Red Wave

June 5th, 2022 6:22 PM

As inflation, gas prices, and virtually everything else in the country spirals out of control, Biden’s polling numbers have gotten so bad that even ABC News is forced to admit that they are poised to drag the entire Democrat Party down to a landslide defeat in November. 

On ABC’s This Week, political director Rick Klein broke down the key findings from the latest ABC/Ipsos poll on Biden’s approval ratings (hint: they aren’t good).

Turning to Klein, anchor George Stephanopoulos admitted the “new polling with Ipsos gives us new insights into the headwinds Democrats are facing.”

“President Biden is a serious drag on candidates nationwide. And it's driven by his approval rating on a range of issues” Klein revealed before adding “he is badly under water on all of the top issues including the big ones, inflation, gas prices, he's less than 30 percent approval rating on the issues that we're told by voters are dominating their state of mind.”

 

 

Even worse for Biden and Democrats running in 2022 is the fact that even the issues they claim to champion “like gun violence, abortion rights, issues that he [Biden] is elevating into the conversation in recent weeks, he is still significantly under water.” 

Klein revealed “the only issue that we see him above water on, 56 percent approval rating on his handling of COVID-19.” However, there’s a catch: “the problem for Democrats and Biden is that happens to be the issue that voters are telling us is the least likely to be animating their vote this fall.”

The enthusiasm gap is more bad news for Democrats. As Klein reported, there’s a “13-point edge for Republicans in terms of people that say they're very enthusiastic, very eager to vote this fall. You’re seeing Independent voters largely sitting out the midterms so far.” 

He added that the “enthusiasm gap is a little narrower than it was last time we polled on it two months ago. But still, those are the kind of numbers that have Democrats worried about a potential wave election.” 

This segment was made possible by Walmart. Their information is linked. 

To read the relevant transcript click “expand”: 

ABC’s This Week
6/5/2022
9:32:13 a.m. Eastern

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Our new polling with Ipsos gives us new insights into the headwinds Democrats are facing.

RICK KLEIN: President Biden is a serious drag on candidates nationwide. And it's driven by his approval rating on a range of issues. He is badly under water on all of the top issues including the big ones, inflation, gas prices, he's less than 30 percent approval rating on the issues that we're told by voters are dominating their state of mind even on issues like gun violence, abortion rights, issues that he is elevating into the conversation in recent weeks, he is still significantly under water. 

The only issue that we see him above water on, 56 percent approval rating on his handling of COVID-19. The problem for Democrats and Biden is that happens to be the issue that voters are telling us is the least likely to be animating their vote this fall. And that’s also spilling over into an enthusiasm gap that’s developing. You see this in our poll with Ipsos. 13-point edge for Republicans in terms of people that say they're very enthusiastic, very eager to vote this fall. You’re seeing Independent voters largely sitting out the midterms so far. Now that enthusiasm gap is a little narrower than it was last time we polled on it two months ago. But still, those are the kind of numbers that have Democrats worried about a potential wave election.