If you ask President Joe Biden about polls showing he is trailing former President Donald Trump, he might tell you you are “reading the wrong polls.”
But in private, he is reportedly frustrated by the poll results.
The Washington Post published a report on Monday with the headline, “Biden said to be increasingly frustrated by dismal poll numbers.”
“After pardoning a pair of turkeys, an annual White House tradition, Biden delivered some stern words for the small group assembled: His poll numbers were unacceptably low and he wanted to know what his team and his campaign were doing about it,” the Post’s Tyler Page reported.
He added, “He complained that his economic message had done little to move the ball, even as the economy was growing and unemployment was falling, according to people familiar with his comments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.”
On Sunday, a reporter asked the president as he was walking to his motorcade, “Why are you losing to Trump in the polls?”
“You’re reading the wrong polls,” Biden responded.
Q: Why are you losing in the polls?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 18, 2023
BIDEN: "You're reading the wrong polls"
*crash* pic.twitter.com/VQKeLpZrYK
While Biden insisted reporters were reading the wrong polls, RealClearPolitics’ average of polls finds Trump leading him by 3.5 points in a hypothetical match-up.
Earlier this month, Fox News reported Biden told donors that if former President Donald Trump wasn’t running, “I’m not sure I’d be running.”
“But we cannot let him win,” he reportedly added.
Reporters later asked him, “Would you be running for president if Trump wasn’t running?”
“I expect so. But look, he is running and I have to run,” Biden responded.