In his recent State of the Union, Joe Biden told Black Americans, “I have your back.” The 2020 presidential election showed that this statement is not unreasonable — according to polls, the Democratic candidate was supported by about 87% of black voters, as well as 67% and 63% of citizens with Asian and Hispanic roots, respectively. These are very serious figures — at the moment, people of color make up 25% of the entire U.S. population.
That group of voters is expected to be critical to Biden’s potential success on Nov. 5. It is easy to predict that most of the minority population is likely to vote for the incumbent. However, at the moment, the Biden administration has faced a tangible problem — the level of support for the democratic president among the above-mentioned groups is steadily decreasing.
According to FiveThirtyEight, in January 2021, Black Americans approved of Biden’s work most actively — at that time, the figure was 86%. After three years of his term, it can be concluded that his work with minorities failed — approval ratings among Blacks dropped to 59%, and among Hispanics and Asians dropped below 50%.
A 30% decrease in support among population (with a national indicator of 15%) initially predisposed to you is a heavy blow for Biden. It is necessary to understand the reasons why the most loyal group of voters trusts him less and less.
Initially, Biden’s level of support among minorities was unimaginably high as well as the level of expectations from his presidency. It was assumed that the U.S. president would solve such painful problems as, for example, the migration crisis and the economy shaken due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And this is the case when the new administration crosses out the achievements of the previous one.
The transition of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in 2021 entailed the rejection of strict migration policies, the shutdown of the Remain in Mexico program, the cessation of the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico and, as a result, led to the fact that over the past three years, 7.2 million migrants illegally entered the United States.
Karin Jean-Pierre says that “the president has done more to secure the border and to deal with the issue of immigration than anybody else,” spreading deliberately false information.
Biden himself is not very honest in his attitude towards migrants and asylum seekers in the United States. In his State of the Union, he used the term “illegal” instead of “undocumented person.” Biden subsequently had to make excuses and confess that he regretted it.
It is probably worth recalling that such statements by Joe are echoes of his past, when in 1975, as a senator from Delaware, he spoke out sharply against “busing.” During the Democratic primary in 2020, Kamala Harris recalled this fact to him, saying that she suffered from decisions promoted by Biden, in response to which he took a comfortable position, saying that local authorities were to blame, and refused to recognize that he indirectly adhered to segregation policies.
In 2007, Biden made another resonant statement about Senator Barack Obama: “I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Imagine if he said that today. Oh yes, nothing would have changed — the Democratic media would not have written anything about it anyway, because it was not Donald Trump who said it.
It is not less difficult for Biden to solve economic issues. The peak of inflation was passed in 2022; in February 2024 the figure was 3.2%, which is still higher than during the Trump presidency. Despite this, prices for basic goods that rose sharply in 2022 are not decreasing, and there are no trends toward changing the situation.
According to a 2020 Harvard poll, high prices and inflation hit Black Americans most painfully. Thus, 55% of them stated that they had serious financial problems, and 32% could not afford to buy a sufficient number of products. The increase in prices, rents, and the difficulties of doing business in conditions of high inflation led to the fact that people began to lose their money.
At the same time, Joe Biden presents as a great success of his presidential term the fact that the difference in the welfare of Whites and Blacks is now at the lowest level in the last 20 years. I wonder what the point is when the real standard of living stands in stark contrast to the president’s statements.
No less acute is Joe’s mental health. If you look, for example, at the pre-election debate between Trump and Biden in 2020, you can see that the latter at that time was almost able to express himself sensibly and explain his thoughts. If you look at him now, you can only see an old person who cannot do or say anything without prompting from his assistants.
The president either “doesn’t want to answer questions,” or “technically shouldn’t be here,” or “oh what I’m doing here” (just look at his hands at this point). Biden is not mentally healthy no matter how much he claims otherwise. This is also evidenced by the large number of weekends that he has taken since the beginning of his term (resting 40% of days — something an ordinary man cannot dream of), and the small number of public appearances, and the quality of his performances in these rare moments.
That is not what we want to see when looking at the President of the United States.
The above problems certainly resonate not only with Blacks and other minorities. Joe Biden, losing the support of his loyal electorate, reduces his chances of winning in November. And, in fairness, his election defeat is likely to pave the way for a truly better future for the United States.
Image: White House
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