'Baghdad Bob': WH chief of staff served humble pie after trying to spin poll called 'devastating indictment' of Biden



White House chief of staff Ron Klain desperately tried on Sunday to positively spin a new poll that was described as a "damning indictment" President Joe Biden's presidency.

But his attempt completely fell flat.

What does the poll show?

The CBS News/YouGov poll shows that Biden's approval is under water 12 points; just 44% of respondents said they approve of his job as president, while 56% of respondents said they disapprove.

But it gets worse: Nearly three-fourths of respondents (74%) said things in America are going badly, 69% said the economy is bad, and an overwhelming majority of respondents expressed pessimism over the direction of the economy over the next several months. A majority of respondents (65%) also said Biden is "slow to react" to important issues.

What did Klain say?

The White House chief of staff turned the spin cycle on high and claimed the poll is actually good for Biden.

"I hate to spoil the narrative but this poll shows @potus approval rating moving up, and solid public confidence on the two biggest problems he inherited: COVID and jobs," Klain said.

I hate to spoil the narrative but this poll shows @potus approval rating moving up, and solid public confidence on the two biggest problems he inherited: COVID and jobs. https://t.co/OPrkWPZxYO
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) May 22, 2022


How exactly Klain defines "solid public confidence" is unclear. However, the poll makes clear that only a slight majority of respondents (53% to 47%) gave Biden positive marks on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the poll found that only a narrow majority (52% to 48%) are optimistic about the trajectory of their local job market over the next several months. This difference, however, falls within the poll's +/- 2.5% margin of error.

What was the reaction?

People were not buying what Klain was trying to sell.

  • "He inherited low gas prices, no war in Ukraine and plenty of baby formula. He is weak and feeble. Everyone around the world sees it," Richard Grenell said.
  • "I know we're all worried about Biden's mental competence, but this suggests that the guy presumed to be actually running the White House is also struggling with his hold on reality," conservative writer Mollie Hemingway reacted.
  • "That @WHCOS thinks this is a 'narrative' and not the result of @JoeBiden’s failed policies shows just how out of touch this Administration is to the struggles facing hardworking Americans," Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) said.
  • "Baghdad Bob," Meghan McCain mocked.
  • "Just the the White House Chief of Staff spinning a poll that shows two-thirds of the country believe this president and administration is slow to react when issues arrive while almost 7-in-10 describe the economy as bad," media reporter Joe Concha observed.
  • "I love how presidents 'inherit problems' when in office even as they actively campaigned to take these problems head on and claimed they were uniquely positioned to solve them," another person said.
  • "Actually, it’s not a narrative. You all screwed up the country and now people are mad because you just keep making things worse. What’s more, your partisanship and cluelessness are nothing short of infuriating," Republican politician Matt Dean said.
  • "A big part of why the Biden admin is in such trouble is the belief at its highest levels that governance is essentially an exercise in 'narrative' creation & maintenance," Noah Pollack observed.

White House chief of staff says 'things are a lot better in this country than they were a year ago' regarding economy, COVID — and gets torched



White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN's Jake Tapper that "things are a lot better in this country than they were a year ago" in regard to the economy and COVID-19 — and observers ripped Klain for his assessment.

What are the details?

Klain made his claim in an interview last week on "The Lead With Jake Tapper," in which Tapper hit the chief of staff right off the bat with inflation numbers, noting that "it's at a 30-year high" and "up 6.2%. That's worse than had been feared."

Tapper also cited a Monmouth University poll saying 42% of middle class families have not benefited under President Joe Biden — a number which is "up from 33% who said the same in July." The host then ran down a list of items that now cost more — "gas, used cars, bacon, beef, chicken, eggs, furniture, TVs, kids' shoes, electricity, rent."

Klain replied that Biden's infrastructure bill would help supply chain issues that lead to price increases and that his "Build Back Better" bill "is the best answer we have to bring those costs down."

'Things are a lot better in this country than they were a year ago'

Later in the interview, Tapper cited a new CNN poll saying the "majority of Americans, 58%, believe that President Biden is not paying attention to the nation's most important issues ... the economy is the most pressing problem, followed by coronavirus, immigration, climate change, national security, and so on."

Tapper added that "even Democrats are walking away from the idea that Biden has the right priorities. Ninety percent in April of Democrats polled said that the Biden had the right priorities, now it's 75%. So, how do you how do you fix this?"

Klain replied that "I think things are a lot better in this country than they were a year ago with regard to COVID, with regard to the economy, but we have a lot of work left to do."

WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain: "Things are a lot better in this country than they were a year ago. [...] We have problems to solve, but we're solving them."pic.twitter.com/IHQRl29del

— The Hill (@thehill) 1636939860

How did folks react?

Certainly Biden has his fans among hard-core Democrats, and they defended Klain's assessment that things are better in America now than they were this time last year with regard to the economy and COVID.

But others were flabbergasted by the chief of staff — who, not incidentally, recently endorsed the notion that issues like the stalling supply chain are "high class problems":

  • "You've got to be kidding right[?]" one commenter asked mockingly. "There is literally nothing that's better than it was a year ago."
  • "Except if you need to eat food, put gas in your car or heat your home," another user lamented. "Otherwise everything is peachy!"
  • "The national supply chain has collapsed, the Taliban occupies Afghanistan, millions more have left the labor force, and inflation is at a 31-year high," another commenter said. "Things are going great."
  • "By no metric is America better today than a year ago," another user declared. "Biden voters need to stop living in denial and admit they elected an administration full of globalist retards."
  • "Tell that knob that a year ago I still owned my rental property that I was forced to sell in July because the government mandated that people could live in it for FREE, for over a year, but still demanded that I pay my mortgage, utilities & property taxes," another commenter revealed.
  • "Exactly what 'things' @WHCOS?" another user wondered. "Gas prices? Inflation? Cost of living? Racism? Afghanistan? World leadership? Energy independence? North Korea? Border security? The only thing 'better' (according to you) is that Trump isn't POTUS. This administration is the worst since Carter."

Biden's chief of staff gets torched for endorsing idea that America's struggles with supply chains, inflation are 'high class problems'



White House chief of staff Ronald Klain got clobbered on Twitter after endorsing the notion that America's economic struggles with supply chains and inflation are "high class problems."

What are the details?

Klain on Wednesday retweeted a post from Harvard economics professor Jason Furman saying that "most of the economic problems we're facing (inflation, supply chains, etc.) are high class problems. We wouldn't have had them if the unemployment rate was still 10 percent. We would instead have had a much worse problem."

In a separate tweet, Klain also appeared to endorse the post from Furman, who also is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama.

This 👇👇 https://t.co/ymh53nEHAg

— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) 1634178014.0

Furman saying "if the unemployment rate was still 10 percent" apparently is in reference to early 2021 comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell saying that January's unemployment was around that number, Fox News noted.

How did folks react?

Klain got walloped by other Twitter users for his apparent endorsement of Furman's "high class problems" tweet.

Among his critics was Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee, who told Klain, "Struggling to pay for food, fuel, and housing because of rising prices is not a 'high class problem.' Biden is making everyone worse off, but instead of stopping the damage, their strategy is to try to gaslight Americans."

Conservative commentator John Cardillo also weighed in: "Holy s**t! You're more cognitively impaired than Biden."

Others voiced similar sentiments:

  • "This goes to prove how out of touch @POTUS team is with the rest of America," another commenter wrote. "These issues are affecting middle class and poor, biting into our pay checks. America is beginning to see all those selected by @POTUS to run our Nation are leading to his and our downfall. Shame."
  • "Wow. Most ignorant take ever," another user said. "It's costing 50-75% more to feed my family in the past 6+mo. I don't know how other families in tighter financial situations are doing it. It's not just a 'little more for eggs' it's literally everything we buy, *if* we can find it."
  • "High class problems...Well damn. I'm glad you two are exposing your ignorance for the entire world to see," another commenter noted.
  • "Ron are u serious? This is your defense?" another user asked Klain. "You ever have to live off a loaf bread and a jar of peanut butter not because you are hiking the Appalachian Trail? I have at points in last decade depended upon my Speedway reward points to get me gas & a hot dog before payday…"

Anything else?

President Joe Biden reached an agreement this week with Los Angeles leaders and union workers to ease supply chain disruptions by keeping the ports of Los Angeles open 24/7. Cargo ships have been sitting off the coast of California for weeks, unable to offload goods due to worker shortages which has driven up retail prices and inflation.

Meanwhile the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday said Americans can expect their home heating bills to jump as much as 54% this winter compared to last year due to supply problems.