On Friday’s broadcast of ABC’s “GMA3,” Biden 2024 Campaign Co-Chair Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) responded to a poll showing poor approval ratings for President Joe Biden by stating that “when you are polling young people and young people are not being told what’s been done, then that’s a problem.” And “we’re beginning to break through, simply because we’re having complete reporting, rather than the incomplete reporting that was being done before.”
Co-host Eva Pilgrim asked, “You’ve said that President Biden isn’t breaking through the MAGA wall. What do you mean by that?”
Clyburn answered, “I meant that a lot of what we were doing was not getting reported. For some reason, we couldn’t seem to break through. That was then. This is now. And one of the things has to do with…the news that came out, an additional $5 billion in student loan debt relief is now being reported. That had not been reported before. And there was 132 billion that he had done that was not getting reported. For some reason, we were not breaking through that wall. Why? I don’t know. We seem to be doing so now. I’ve seen, in the last week, three different reports on the amount of relief students have gotten. And so, as I traveled around the country, I had young people saying to me, Joe Biden has not kept his promise on relieving debt for students. But he was keeping his promise. It was not getting reported. $137 billion, that is a lot of money for around 3.8 million people.”
Co-host DeMarco Morgan then asked, “So, what are some of the other accomplishments that the President has made that you believe are being overlooked? And what do you say to people who say he hasn’t done enough, what has he done for the country?”
Clyburn responded, “I think that the biggest one that’s being underreported is the PACT Act, what the President did with the PACT Act, not just the relief for those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and got cancer and other maladies because of the burn pits. But Joe Biden went back and picked up those people who served in Vietnam and were not getting treated fairly. Look at the biggest infrastructure bill since Dwight Eisenhower’s interstate highway. I hear all the announcements made at the local levels, but I don’t think the national reporting of that has been up to what it should be.”
Pilgrim then asked, “Let’s look at some numbers. According to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, President Biden’s approval rating has dropped to a new low, 33%. Are you concerned that his numbers are trending in the wrong direction?”
Clyburn responded, “I don’t think that’s a trend. I think that’s an outlier. I have seen polls recently that said, not only is he being approved, but his numbers show that he’s leading Trump. I’ve seen two polls saying that. But I’ve seen other polls saying differently. These snapshots are taken at certain times. And when you are polling young people and young people are not being told what’s been done, then that’s a problem. So, I feel real good about where the campaign is. I think we’re beginning to break through, simply because we’re having complete reporting, rather than the incomplete reporting that was being done before.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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