The continuing decline of President Joe Biden’s approval rating comes as no surprise to some of the state’s Republican leaders.
Various Republican officials from across the state chimed in to criticize Biden’s policies and administration, although some said the president remains a better choice to lead the country than Vice President Kamala Harris, the second in line for the office should anything happen to Biden.
According to political website The Hill, Biden’s approval rating hit 38% earlier this month in a poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University. The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from across the country by landline and cellphone. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.
Biden’s approval rating has consistently trended downward in recent months.
War on the West
State Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said that the Biden administration has started an all-out war on various industries since taking office, including oil and gas, timber, livestock and more.
He added that the administration has continued to spend frivolously and propose policies that hurt the nation.
“My guess is, long-term, the approval rating continues to head for the toilet, and our country suffers,” Driskill said. “We’re going to pay. We’re going to have a very long-term hangover from these administrative policies.”
While Driskill hoped for the best when Biden got elected, he said that at this point, he doesn’t know what else the president could do that could be much worse for the nation.
However, he did say that while Biden was bad, Harris being president would be “armageddon.”
“I can’t think of a worse thing that could happen,” he said.
Incapable of Decisions
Carbon County Republican Chair Joey Correnti, one of the more visible members of the Wyoming Republican Party, said he doesn’t believe “Biden’s numbers are actually Biden’s numbers.”
He said the president is a puppet for the left wing establishment, which he said was represented by Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The approval numbers are theirs, he said.
“Biden does nothing but blindly regurgitate anything they throw on a Teleprompter or note-card and put in front of him,” Correnti said. “I believe it’s fairly obvious that Biden is incapable of making any decisions or intelligible statements entirely on his own.”
According to The Hill, Biden responded to his slumping poll numbers last week, telling reporters during a press conference, “That’s not why I ran.” He noted that polls are volatile, adding, “I didn’t run to determine how well I’m going to do in the polls.”
Still Supporters?
Matt Micheli, attorney and former chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, was more shocked at the number of people still supporting Biden.
“With the runaway inflation, open borders, rising crime, socialism and unprecedented interference in our private lives, I am shocked he has anyone that says they still support him,” Micheli said. “Bottom line, the policies out of this administration are bad for America and voters are waking up.”
Bad Policies
State Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, said that Biden’s low approval numbers were a direct reflection of his “disastrous” policies.
“In the first 10 months in office, the Biden administration has placed undue burdens on families who are struggling with the pandemic by continuing to push government spending and reducing homegrown jobs in the energy sector,” Brown said. “People are hurting and they thought he was going to help, but he’s done nothing but hurt the American people.”
Getting What He Deserves
Former Wyoming Republican Chairman Diemer True, a former state senator and chairman of the Wyoming GOP, said Biden got the approval rating he deserved, saying the president has surrounded himself with unqualified advisors and has denied problems such as the immigration crisis.
“He seems to be tone deaf and maybe blind,” True said. “We just have never had such a poor president. If you’re that incompetent, people are going to see it.”
True added if Biden were a Republican, the media would be pointing out every mistake he made, such as when he pulled soldiers out of Afghanistan in August.
“I’m so concerned with his competency and his taking us down the wrong road, I hope his policies aren’t fatal to our country,” he said.
Not Even A Food Truck
Longtime Wyoming political fundraiser Rob Jennings said that although Biden’s national approval rating is at 38%, he expected the number is significantly lower among Wyoming voters.
Like True, Jennings did not believe Biden was a capable holder of the Oval Office.
“I ask people all the time, if you made $1 million and invested in a food truck, would you hire Joe Biden to run that truck?” Jennings said. “The answer’s no.”
He said that the country was in a constitutional crisis due to legislators propping the president up. Jennings also said that as a Wyomingite, he wanted to know what the state’s leaders were doing to fight Biden’s policies.
“I think all of our politicians, at some level, are failing us, because they’re not telling people what’s really going on,” he said. “People see it more than the politicians do.”
