'Polls don't matter anymore': Biden says he believes public supports his policies

February 9, 2023

In the wake of President Joe Biden's poorly received State of the Union address, he told PBS on Wednesday that "polls don't matter anymore" and that people support his policies.

NewsHour host Judy Woodruff asked Biden "why the disconnect" between Biden's rosy view of the economy and the public's, citing polls showing between 64% and 71% of Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction.

Biden responded, “Because the polls don’t matter anymore. You’ve got to make, what? 40 or 50 calls on a cell phone to get someone to answer a poll. Even the pollsters — you’ve talked to them. Ask them what they think about this sort of thing.”

“So you don’t think it’s your policy?” Woodruff asked.

Biden then cited support for infrastructure and prescription drug price controls as examples of his policies that have broad support and accused the media of reporting too many negative things.

"Look, people went through hell the last several years, the last five years," he continued to argue. "In the pandemic, we lost a million people, dead. And so, every time you turn on the news, are any of you reporting any positive news? I [don’t] mean you personally, editorially. And so, you turn on the television and everything’s down. And so, people, understandably, are down.”