When CNN’s Jake Tapper, 54, issues a warning about 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s poor poll number, you know Democrats are in trouble heading into the 2024 presidential election. Since CNN CEO Jeff Zucker took over the cable news network Jan. 1, 2013, he morphed the liberal network into a wing to the Democrat Party. Zucker transformed CNN into a GOP-hating, Democrat-promoting network, steadily losing market share to MSNBC and Fox News. By the time Zucker left Feb. 2, 2022, CNN was in a freefall, losing its independent, moderate and conservative audience. Despite changes brought to CNN by new CEO Chris Licht Feb. 22, 2022, the network remains painfully Democrat, unable to smoothly transition back into a nonpartisan news establishment. Survived Licht’s purges of its liberal on-air talent, Tapper continues hold clout as its chief daytime host.
New CNN polls raise red flags about Biden’s prospects in the 2024 election, with or without former President Donald Trump playing a part. Under Zucker’s regime, CNN could be counted on for only Democrat propaganda, going after Trump with a vengeance, morning, noon and night. Zucker milked Trump’s insatiable popularity with TV ratings, turning CNN into a 24/7 anti-Trump news network. Over Zucker’s tenure, he continued to erode CNN ratings—and credibility—eventually tripping over his own self-indulged sex scandal, force out of the network. Tapper remains on of the only host left that dares to tell the truth, especially when it looks bad for Democrats. “When it comes to how voters see Joe Biden and another presidential term, I mean those are some bad numbers,” Tapper said about the May 25 CNN poll showing that 41% of voter think it would be a “disaster” if Biden gets four more years.
Given CNN’s Democrat-controlled editorial board, it was difficult for Tapper to tell the audience the bad news. Calling another Biden term a “disaster,” indicates that the tide has turned away from Democrats if they don’t nominate another candidate. Biden’s April 25 announcement of his 2024 run came as no real surprise but with trepidation by Democrats. Biden’s supported by his party’s hard left, largely African Americans and other minorities that see Biden’s spending programs as lifting up disenfranchised groups. When it comes to moderate Democrats, they’ve had misgivings about Biden’s economic performance and his disastrous foreign policy funding the bankrupt Ukrainian government and war with the Kremlin. Since taking office Jan. 20, 2021, Biden has trashed U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations, ending over 78-years of post-WW II diplomacy and détente.
When the debt crisis came up, Biden talked tough but quickly caved to Republicans spending cuts, leaving key elements of Biden’s social agenda in jeopardy. CNN’s May 25 poll showed that 26% of respondents said it would be a “setback” if Biden gets another four years. What it means to a GOP candidate, whoever winds up the GOP nominee, is that Biden is vulnerable heading into 2024. No president with aggregate approval ratings about 35% has much chance of reelection. Many Republicans think that the only thing that could prevent Republicans from returning to the White House is Trump. Most Democrats can’t see that Trump isn’t likely, no matter what the polls say now, to represent the GOP in 2024. Florida Gov. Ron DeSanits announced his run May 24, raking in a record $8.2 million, attesting to the fact that most Republicans have moved on from Trump.
U.S. news organizations, typically endorsing Democrat policies, don’t see the damage done to Biden’s polls by the Ukraine War. Biden decided to join Ukraine’s war against the Kremlin, funding the bankrupt Kiev government and war against the Kremlin. Instead of the U.S. taking a more neutral stance and calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, Biden decided to join Ukraine war against the Russian Federation. Biden trashed decades of U.S. diplomacy and détente with Russia, turning the Kremlin into a bitter U.S. enemy. CNN’s polls showed Biden with a 35% approval rating, not enough to bring in the same swing voters that won him the presidency in 2020. With Trump out the picture, it’s going to be difficult for Democrats to sell Biden against 33-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Compared with Trump, DeSantis is far more palatable to moderate Democrats and independents.
When CNN Jake Tapper recognizes Biden’s vulnerabilities heading into 2024, Democrats should seriously consider running a different candidate. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 55, has all the right qualities to put up a good fight against DeSantis or any other GOP candidate. “Views of Biden are sharply more negative that are views of three living Democrat past presidents,” wrote the CNN poll. “That’s a big warning sign,” CNN Political Director David Chalian told Tapper. Chalian sees problems in voters accepting either Biden of Trump, something that Republicans have figured out. DeSanti’s launch, despite glitches at Twitter. “It’s worse for Biden, but for both of them, most of the American people think electing them would be a disaster or a setback for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump,” Tapper told Chalian. If the GOP opts for DeSantis, Biden would lose the 2024 election.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
