Viewership figures for President Joe Biden’s first formal State of the Union Address have been announced and it’s not good news for him.
“More than 38 million Americans tuned in to President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, the lowest viewing figures for a commander-in-chief’s first SOTU in at least 30 years,” the New York Post .
“According to Nielsen Media Research, approximately 27.4 million households watched Biden’s hour-long address live on 16 different networks for a 22.4 rating.”
“By contrast, Donald Trump’s first official State of the Union speech in 2018 garnered a 26.9 rating, with an estimated 45.5 million viewers tuning in,” the paper continued, noting that President Obama garnered a rating of 29.8 in 2010 and President George Bush drew a 33.6 rating in 2002 when 51.8 million tuned in.
Although Biden gave a State of the Union address last April, because he had not served in office for a full year so it is not considered an official State of the Union address. That said, it received a dismal 16.5 rating with only 27 million viewers. Various sites referred to the speech as Biden’s first SOTU, however.
“The idea of not calling the first address the State of the Union is a relatively new practice in American history,” noted.
The Congressional Research Service said, “The past seven Presidents have chosen not to give an official State of the Union address the year they were first inaugurated, having just previously delivered an inaugural address.”
“In each instance, their first speech to a joint session of Congress closely followed their inauguration, but was not officially categorized as a ‘State of the Union Message,'” the CRS continued.
Biden’s approval ratings have continued to freefall in recent weeks.
As inflation continues to soar amid supply chain issues that have left shelves bare, just 39 percent in a January Havard CAPS/Harris poll gave Biden a positive job approval.
“Of that, 18 percent of registered voters said they strongly approve of the job he’s doing, while 21 percent say they somewhat approve. Meanwhile, 53 percent said they somewhat or strongly disapprove of his job performance,” according to the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, which was exclusively to The Hill.
“That number is six points down from his approval rating in November, when he was at 45 percent, while his disapproval rating ticked up from 51 percent two months ago. His 39 percent approval rating is the lowest since the poll first started gauging it in March,” the outlet added.
“This is a new low for President Biden as he struggles to solve a myriad of issues from the pandemic and the economy to immigration and crime that trouble the public,” pollster Mark Penn said.