CNN viewers who tuned into President Joe Biden’s congressional address on Wednesday gave him a worse approval rating than they did to former President Donald Trump after his first speech to the joint session in 2017, a new poll suggests.
Only 51 percent of the largely Democrat speech watchers approved of Biden’s comments, but the corporate media outlet still labeled the ratings a “very positive reaction.” This reaction is more than a 20 percent drop from when former President Obama addressed the legislative body and earned 68 percent approval and when former President George W. Bush gave his first speech, which received 66 percent approval.
Of those who watched the speech, 60 percent said Biden made an appropriate effort to reach Republicans. Approximately 38 percent of viewers, however, “felt he did not go far enough.”
View of speech watchers, per CNN poll. The speech watchers tonight overall leaned Democratic. pic.twitter.com/9VslE8ir7Z
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 29, 2021
While Biden spent more than an hour detailing his big-spending agenda, which CNN previously labeled “moderate radicalism,” he delivered the address to a significantly limited audience.
Spin so hard, @CNN pic.twitter.com/YErqlyFLnk
— Mark Morgan (@MarkMorganWI) April 28, 2021
Just 200 people were handpicked by the administration to attend the speech that was held in House chambers that can accommodate more than 1,000 people. While many legislators are vaccinated against the virus, the administration reportedly limited the capacity due to COVID-19 protocols and forced some such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and White House staff to stay home.
Even those who did see the speech in person were confined to double masks and socially distanced seating arrangements as they listened to Biden tout the U.S.’s vaccine rollout without giving any credit to the prior administration.
