Biden flaws become a major story

NEWS AND OPINION:

Polls and surveys come and go very quickly in the media marketplace. Some get news coverage, some don’t; the press can be very selective at times. A new ABC News/Ipsos poll that revealed dwindling approval of President Biden is one of those surveys which got the coverage, even among news organizations that tend to shield Democratic officials.

ABC News itself was among the most candid in its review of the findings, which were released on Sunday.

“As President Joe Biden completed 100 days in office, the country was optimistic about the coming year, but now, just after hitting the six-month mark, Americans’ optimism about the direction of the country has plummeted nearly 20 percentage points,” the ABC News analysis said.

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“On other issues, Biden’s approval is underwater, and lackluster even among his own party,” the analysis said.

A CNN review of the survey dwelled on the numbers, acknowledging that people were going from “undecided to disapproving of Biden” — and later added a judgment call.

“If Biden was hoping that his efforts in the first six months of his presidency would bring over new supporters, he is mistaken — at least for the moment,” CNN said.

“Under Biden, America is only mostly back,” said The Financial Times while Whoopi Goldberg — host of ABC’s “The View” — told her audience that “President Biden’s approval ratings have taken a bit of a dip.” On the global stage, Sky News Australia host Paul Murray declared that “swampy” Joe Biden’s positive approval had begun its descent.

In addition, a Gallup poll released Friday also found that Mr. Biden’s public approval was diminishing and the results were not muted. They were scrutinized and reported on by multiple news organizations, including The Hill, Yahoo News and Business Insider.

“President Biden‘s latest job approval rating of 50% is down from 56% in June. Before this month, his ratings had not shown meaningful variation during his time in office, and the current figure marks the lowest measured for him to date,” Gallup reported.

INSIGHT FROM BRITAIN

Immigration is a topic of deep interest across the pond.

“Some 90% of population growth in recent years has been driven by immigrants and their U.K.-born offspring,” reports a Daily Mail analysis of a report by Migration Watch UK, a think tank.

“The audit of migration since 2001 warned that immigration over the last two decades —­ with numbers of arrivals running at around 300,000 a year with little public debate ­— are likely to produce economic, social and political difficulties in coming years,” the news organization said, noting that “ethnic minorities” now make up 21% of the nation’s population of 67 million.

“We can no longer duck the longer-term consequences of very high levels of immigration which have taken place without the public’s consent,” said Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK.

“The British people will be deeply concerned when they realize the sheer scale of the changes and their impact on prospects for achieving a harmonious and integrated society,” Mr. Mehmet said.

GUARDIAN ANGELS, PET DIVISION

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor of New York City, is well known as the founder of the Guardian Angels, a public safety group. Now he adds another interest to his qualifications: Pet guardian.

Mr. Sliwa points out that when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, thousands of New Yorkers turned to pet adoption agencies to find new housemates. But now, pets are now being returned to the agencies and euthanized, he says. The trend has become a campaign cause.

The candidate is calling for the immediate creation of a new “Pet SNAP Card” that provides households with $1,000 in financial assistance if they adopt a new dog or cat or choose not to relinquish the animal to a shelter.

The money from the Pet Snap Program will come from the Animal Care & Control Budget, which is about $23 million each year.

“The adoption of cats can help people with rat or rodent problems that may be affecting their apartments or businesses. The adoption of dogs, no matter what the size, often serves as a security alarm and safety companion for residents and homes throughout the city,” Mr. Sliwa says in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

AND SOME NEWS FROM C-SPAN

The nation’s premier public affairs network has a new political director. That would be Nate Hurst — who now has the gargantuan job of overseeing C-SPAN’s campaign coverage for the White House, Congress, and state and local elections, among other things.

Mr. Hurst joined the network in 2014 and produced Congressional hearings, international fare and original content. He was named deputy political editor in 2019. And he is a journalist, by the way — previously covering federal transportation policy for CQ Roll Call and serving as a Washington correspondent for the Detroit News.

FOXIFIED

Once again, Fox News rules the ratings roost, emerging as the most-watched network in the entire cable realm — besting both cable news competitors and non-news networks.

Fox drew an average of 2.1 million prime-time viewers throughout the month of July, according to Nielsen Media Research — airing eight of the top-10 cable news programs.

News rival MSNBC had 1.3 million prime-time nightly viewers over the month and CNN managed 856,000. Non-news competition HGTV enjoyed 1.7 million nightly viewers, TNT had 1.1 million and ESPN had 1 million.

POLL DU JOUR

• 47% of U.S. adults say the U.S. “made a mistake” by sending troops to Afghanistan; 29% of Republicans, 54% of independents and 56% of Democrats agree.

• 44% of men and 51% of women also agree.

• 46% overall say the U.S. did not make a mistake sending troops; 67% of Republicans, 40% of independents and 39% of Democrats agree.

• 52% of men and 41% of women also agree.

• 6% don’t know; 5% of Republicans, 6% of independents and 6% of Democrats agree.

• 5% of men and 8% of women also agree.

SOURCE: A Gallup poll of 1,007 U.S. adults conducted July 6-21.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin