ABC’s Steve Roberts - February 28, 2022 - KRDO’s Morning News

Economic discontent is hurting President Joe Biden and his party's midterm election prospects, with underwater ratings for his handling of the invasion of Ukraine, a split on the pandemic and weak scores on personal attributes including leadership, handling a crisis and mental sharpness. The result: A career-low 37% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance overall, with 55% disapproving. But it should be noted that, looking at data going back to Harry Truman's administration, only two presidents have had approval ratings this low heading into their first State of the Union address, which Biden delivers tomorrow night.  Those two were Donald Trump, at 36%, and Gerald Ford, at 37%. Disapproval has been higher, by a non-significant 3 percentage points, only for Trump.  And speaking of the former president, over the weekend, Trump delivered the keynote address at CPAC, using the platform to repeat his praise of Vladimir Putin as “smart” as he called American leaders “dumb.” As president, Trump was constantly called out on his reluctance to condemn Putin and, at a summit in Helsinki, took the Russian leader’s word over that of his own intelligence agencies. The CPAC speech was also an opportunity for Trump to give the strongest indication yet that he intends to run in 2024.  “We did it twice, and we’ll do it again,” Trump told the crowd, once again falsely claiming again that he won the 2020 election. Trump reminded those who want to move on that he remains the most powerful voice in Republican politics.  Bad news for those in the party who want to move forward instead of constantly looking backward.