- Biden is "really twisted" by his approval ratings being lower than Trump's, NBC News reports.
- Biden's job approval is at 41%, per Gallup, compared to 42% for Trump at the same point in his presidency.
- Biden is frustrated by multiple crises confronting him and a lack of clear 2022 midterm messaging, NBC reported.
President Joe Biden is "really twisted" that his approval ratings are worse than President Donald Trump's as the White House contends with multiple crises just months out from the midterms, NBC News reports.
Only 41% of American adults approve of Biden's performance as president as of his 487th day in office, according to Gallup. Trump's job approval among all adults was at 42% at the same point in his presidency.
"He's now lower than Trump, and he's really twisted about it," a source close to the White House told NBC News.
Biden is growing progressively more frustrated that his team has failed to find a strong, consistent message heading into the 2022 midterm elections, sources told NBC News.
"What he's pushing for is to make a sharper case for all that we have accomplished thus far," a White House official told NBC in pushing back on the notion that Biden is miffed.
In addition to Biden's poor approval ratings, voter dissatisfaction with the economy, rising inflation and gas prices, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a baby formula shortage are all engulfing the White House and threatening an all-out shellacking for Democrats in the midterms.
A large portion of Biden's domestic economic agenda remains stalled in Congress, and Democrats lack a large enough majority in the US Senate to deliver on other domestic priorities including voting rights, protecting abortion rights at the federal level with the Supreme Court expected to strike down Roe v. Wade, and passing gun safety legislation in the wake of two mass shootings.
Biden hammered his Republican opponents as "Ultra-MAGA" only for them to gleefully co-opt the term and make merchandise out of it after a team of political strategists spent six months coming up with the phrase, the Washington Post reported.
"He shares the view that we haven't landed on a winning midterm message," another person close to the White House told NBC News. "And he's putting a lot of pressure on people to figure out what that is."
Biden is also frustrated that not enough Democrats are going on television to defend him and his administration, sources told NBC.
The president's efforts to get out of DC and sell his agenda are falling flat when it comes to bolstering his approval ratings. Voters' concerns about the current state of the economy seem to be unmoved by the Biden administration's two big legislative accomplishments: the American Rescue Plan in early 2021 and the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress in late 2021.
"People confront him," a Democratic donor told NBC about interactions Biden has at fundraisers. "All he's hearing is 'Why can't you get anything done?'"