The disconnect between the press and average Americans was laid bare following Joe Biden's angry and divisive State of the Union speech in early March.
As RedState reported, the president appeared to be hopped up on stimulants as he shouted his way through the first half-hour of his remarks. That he decided to focus on Ukraine and January 6th before any of the actual things most Americans are concerned about didn't help his performance either.
Biden's State of the Union Was the Most Unhinged and Angry in History
When Biden finally got to the issue of illegal immigration, which consistently places near the top of priorities for voters in various polls, he mispronounced Laken Riley's name, calling the murdered Georgia college student "Lincoln." His comments on the economy were no better, with him attempting to garner credit for the deficit still being near record highs while ignoring the stubbornly high inflation and astronomical interest rates that continue to hamper American families.
In short, it was a terrible speech, both on its merits and regarding its delivery. Yet, members of the press rushed to proclaim it "fiery" and "energetic," with Joe Scarborough going so far as to say that Biden made Republicans look like "fools."
Talking Points Go Out on Biden's SOTU, and They Are as Smooth-Brained as You'd Expect
“It was his best speech of his presidency by far,” the host of Morning Joe said. “Strongest speech, and, most importantly, for people that were thinking, ‘Oh, he’s too old. He’s too that, man’ … he gave a lot more than he got and made these Republicans look like fools time and time again.”
You may want to sit down for this, but apparently, normal people do not share the opinions of wine-sipping elites who never have to worry about their grocery bill or how they are going to pay their mortgage. The numbers are in on Biden's triumphant State of the Union speech, and it's panic time for Democrats.
It's not just that Biden didn't get a bump, though. After the speech, he hit an all-time low in approval rating.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned here, none of which Democrats will take to heart, with the most obvious being that results matter more than rhetoric. That's not always true, but when things get bad enough, it becomes an undeniable fact of political life. By the numbers, most Americans do not "like" Donald Trump, but that doesn't matter when they care far more about how much money is in their bank account and whether the border crisis is going to continue to spill over into their communities.
Ultimately, that is the biggest issue for Biden. Whatever flaws voters see in Trump, they see more flaws in the current president, both personally and regarding his disastrous policy decisions. If that "fiery" State of the Union all the press thought was brilliant didn't change that dynamic, then it's hard to imagine what will.
With less than eight months until election day, there's very little that can happen to change the fundamental issues plaguing America before the polls close. Interest rates will not drop fast enough to make buying a home a possibility again. Cumulative price increases are now baked in, and inflation continues to be close to double the normal rate. Certainly, the Biden administration has no plans to do anything to address the illegal immigration crisis.
What you see is what you get, and that's a code red for Democrats who were hoping to just shout about January 6th loud enough to coast to re-election.