Speaker 1: Yes. Joe Biden has COVID. We will talk about that in a moment. But
Joe Biden also has sort of bigger problems. Joe Biden's approval has again hit another record low
for the presidency. These are not good numbers. And I will defend any day that Joe Biden is the
better choice than Donald Trump and that Joe Biden has made better decisions that Donald Trump. But
I also can't lie to you and say that the country is responding super positively to Joe Biden. His
approval rating is really low. The average is now down to 37.4. That's an average of recent
approval polls for Joe Biden. 57% of Americans now disapprove. This is the most disapproval and least
approval of Joe Biden since he became president of the United States compared to prior presidents.
You have to go still all the way back to Truman in the 1940s to find a president that on month
I guess it's month 18 of his presidency had an approval this low you compare it to even Trump
had a higher approval at this point in time in his presidency. Barack Obama, George W Bush. Way,
way better than Biden at this point. Bill Clinton. George H.W. Bush. Ronald Reagan.
Jimmy Carter. Gerald Ford. John F Kennedy. Dwight Eisenhower. You indeed have to go all the way back
to Harry Truman in what would have been 1946 to find a president with a lower approval, 18 months
in than Joe Biden. And part of what is going on is the feeling, and it is not an altogether incorrect
feeling that not enough is happening, that there are not enough accomplishments. And we talked
yesterday on the bonus show about the new idea to get something done on climate for Joe Biden
is to do some executive orders. And the executive orders are sort of like, okay, but they're not
great. And the good news for Joe Biden is that if we continue to believe this notion that it's the
economy, stupid, that what the public uses as a proxy to whether the president is doing a good job
is the economy. And every indication is that inflation has peaked and that the July numbers,
which will be out in mid-August, will be lower inflation. Gas prices have now been declining for
something like a month or more. Let me look at exactly when the June 14th was the peak,
and it is now July 22nd. So so basically five plus weeks. Gas prices have been declining and quite
precipitously. So if that continues to go in that direction, if the stock market steadies, as it has
shown some signs of doing, it's likely that Joe Biden's approval will improve. But it is currently
not good. If you look at the betting markets, who do you think will win the presidential nomination
for the Democrats in 2024? Not who do you plan to support? Who do you not? Who do you like?
Who do you think will win? Joe Biden's chances in the betting markets are again declining.
And Gavin Newsom is they're in second place right alongside Kamala Harris. And the margin right now,
let's put it a different way. More people believe that either Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris will be
the 2024 nominee, then the number that believe it will be Biden individually. Biden still has
a plurality, but combined people believe it will be Newsom or Harris more than they
believe it will be Joe Biden. So remains to be seen. We're watching that. We're watching
polling. We're watching accomplishments. And of course, we're also tracking Joe Biden's health
as he does indeed have COVID with reportedly mild symptoms. Let's talk about that next.