MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough called out Donny Deutsch on Wednesday after he tried to chalk up a damming Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll on President Joe Biden to an “outlier.”
A new Wall Street Journal poll found former President Donald Trump leading Biden by 11 points on the question of who had a better record. Trump also led Biden by 10 points in perceived mental fitness to hold office. Fifty-eight percent of those polled said the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, with a majority of those polled disapproving of Biden’s handling of the economy.
The poll surveyed 1,500 registered voters between Aug. 24 and 30 and had a plus or minus 2.5% margin of error.
Deutsch argued Democrats need to turn the Biden campaign into one based on fear of Trump before saying the poll was frightening.
“And it’s scary. I’m not saying I’m not scared. I’m not saying that ‘Wall Street Journal’ poll … didn’t freak me out. I am freaked out. I got to tell you but the Democrats have got to get behind who we have at this point and just make it about the fear of Donald Trump,” he said, arguing that the poll is an “outlier.” (RELATED: ‘Rent Is Too Damn High’: CNN’s Poppy Harlow Questions Dem Consultant Over Biden Economy)
“Right well the Wall Street Journal poll is not an outlier because a CNN poll is lined up with it,” Scarborough interjected.
A CNN poll released in August found 51% of Americans saying the economy was getting worse and that Biden deserved a 41% approval rating. When his handling of the economy is factored in, Biden received just a 37% approval rating. His rating dropped yet again when inflation was factored into a measly 30%, according to the poll. The poll was conducted between July 1 and July 31 amongst 1,279 random adults who were reached by mail initially.
Meanwhile, a separate poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and commissioned by The Associated Press placed Biden’s approval rating on the economy at just 36%.