Recently, in his interview with Jake Tapper, President Joe Biden posed the question, asking what president in recent history has done as much as he has.  He granted that you (the viewer) might not like what he has done, but the "vast majority of the American people" do.

That made me wonder: where did he get that idea?  I occasionally check on Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, and most, but not all, days he places below President Trump on the equivalent day in his presidency.  As I write this, he sits at 43% approval as compared to Trump's 2018 on this day rating of 49%.  In spite of what those left of center say, I have found Rasmussen's polling to hold up appreciably better with actual results come Election Day than the other well known polling companies, such as in 2016.

However, given that many in the American political sphere do not trust Rasmussen or its polling for a variety of reasons, let us cast a wider net.  A recent NPR/Marist National Poll found that the president's approval rating is basically in line with what Rasmussen reported at 44%.  Now, the report was pretty clear on the point that his approval rating had risen from 41% in September.  While I do not doubt that seeing an improvement in any way is good for that person, I am not certain 44% is worth celebrating.

However, we should also remember that the president's words were that "the vast majority" like what he is doing.  A preponderance is 50 percent plus 1 (at least that is what I was taught in class), but Cambridge defines it as "the greatest part" of a quantity.  That said, the president said "vast majority," which seems synonymous with a variety of phrases that basically mean more than a simple majority.  Whether that is two thirds or more is not clarified, but we will forgive the use of a well worn, trite phrase.

If the vast majority of people like what he is doing, then it stands to reason that a sampling of any body of Americans would return with at least a majority favorable response.  As it stands, Rasmussen looks at likely voters, while NPR/Marist looked at "adults" in the United States.  NPR/Marist asked 1,690 adults, whereas Rasmussen does a more frequent survey of 500.  Both of those are actually pretty good and ought to be decently representative of the general mood of the country.

Let us not rest here; let us look at Reuters/Ipsos's own polling.  Not as frequent as Rasmussen's, the Reuters/Ipsos polling is still fairly frequent.  Their polling claims that as of October 11, President Biden sat at 40% approval.  Interestingly, 55% of those surveyed disapproved of his performance.  This was in line with Rasmussen, who found that 56% disapproved.

The network that hosted the interview where President Biden made the claim, CNN, also conducts fairly frequent presidential polling.  Their scores for the president on October 12 were actually not any more flattering than Rasmussen's: his approval rested at 41%, whereas his disapproval was 54%.

It does not matter if he was referencing polls from a month ago or a week ago, the picture does not look very different for the president, no matter whom you ask.  If the vast majority approved of the things he is doing, then they have an odd way of showing it.  Interestingly, I have not really noticed news alerts informing me of the president's unfounded statement.

Now, I do not doubt that the American people are not as mad as they were over summertime.  In my personal experience, and you do not have to agree, it seems that the general public leans toward forgiving Democrat incumbents rather than holding grudges against them.  Therefore, inflation not being as high as it has been and gas prices not being as bad, I believe, really did soften opinions toward the president and his party.  Not by a lot, as is obvious, but somewhat.  However, even given that, I'd be curious where the idea that "the vast majority" approve of the things Joe Biden came from.

Breason Jacak is a pen name.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.