Jake Tapper can’t hide his dismay at Joe Biden’s voting numbers

CNN anchor Jake Tapper used the word ‘awful’ not once but twice Thursday to describe President Joe Biden’s poll results – and ‘The Lead’ host added a ‘bad’ for assess the incumbent’s perceived impact on the country if re-elected. (Watch the video below.)

“Horrible news, awful for Joe Biden in our new CNN poll,” Tapper said, referring to results released earlier today. “While the president leads his Democratic competitors by a huge margin, two-thirds of all Americans polled, 66% of the public say a Biden win would be either a setback or a disaster for the United States.”

“As far as how voters view Joe Biden and another presidential term, I mean, those are bad numbers,” the CNN anchor noted.

CNN Political Director David Chalian painted a grim picture of Biden’s eligibility. He noted that 41% of Americans said it would be a “disaster” if he were to win and another 26% said it would be a “setback”, according to the survey. Biden’s appeal to independent voters had also fallen – a “warning sign”, Chalian noted.

Not that the Democratic president’s main Republican rival for 2024, former President Donald Trump, is faring much better. According to the poll, 44% said a victory for Trump would amount to “disaster” while 12% said it would be a “setback”.

Tapper’s reaction recalled George Stephanopoulos’ unfiltered analysis of a recent ABC/Washington poll that showed Biden trailing Trump in a general election. The data indicated that a Trump victory would likely be helped by people who believe Trump should be held criminally responsible for efforts to nullify the 2020 election, but would still vote for him.

“This poll is just brutal on President Biden,” Stephanopoulos said on ABC’s “This Week” earlier this month.

“I have to admit that I have a hard time understanding that,” he added.