RNC Says Joe Biden's Speech Ignored Issues Important to Voters: Border, Crime, Inflation

The Republican National Committee (RNC) criticized President Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday after he ignored many midterm issues voters care about most to focus, instead, on slamming Republicans as extremists.

With the midterm elections just around the corner, Biden delivered an official speech about how “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.” But Biden’s speech, dubbed by the RNC as  “another defining image of his presidency,” ignored the issues most pressing to Americans.

Biden failed to mention the invasion on the southern border, soaring crime, record-high inflation, supply chain woes, gas prices, the rise of China, the impact that the coronavirus had on children’s education, and the fentanyl crisis, the RNC’s research team tweeted:

Polling shows many of these issues are the ones that are important to Americans in the midterm elections. According to a Wednesday Quinnipiac poll, inflation ranked first at 27 percent, with no other issue reaching double digits.

A Rasmussen Reports poll found in August that record high gas prices, the economic recession, and soaring crime are the top three issues for voters heading into the November midterms.

Ninety-two percent were concerned about rising gas prices, while 68 percent were very concerned. Ninety-one percent were concerned about Biden’s economic recession. Sixty-six were very concerned. And 86 percent were concerned about violent crime. Sixty-one percent were very concerned.

A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll in May found that border security is also a top concern. Across the board, 13 percent of Americans selected immigration as the most important issue. The poll found immigration ranked of more importance to voters than abortion (12 percent), health care (10 percent), and climate change (10 percent).

Less than 24 hours after Biden delivered the speech Thursday, he tried to walk back his characterization of Republican voters after receiving flack from members of the establishment media for his address.

“I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country,” Biden replied when questioned about his remarks.

But the president did not change course and speak to the issues Americans most care about heading into the midterm elections. Instead, he continued to speak about January 6.

“When people voted for Donald Trump and support him now, they weren’t voting for attacking the Capitol. They weren’t voting for overruling an election,” Biden acknowledged. “They were voting for a philosophy that he put forward.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.