Biden at 100 days: 2nd least popular president since 1953

Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago

After a still deeply-disputed election, new United States President Joe Biden has reached 100 days in office with a lower approval rating than any other newly-elected president since 1953, excepting Donald Trump. 

Many believe the country is only in a temporary political calm which could be broken with the reported return of Trump to the political rally circuit in May.

Biden finally gave his state of the union address, where he also unveiled a 10-year “social infrastructure” plan, which is expected to get many months of pushback from Congress.

Many say Biden has had some successes: the coronavirus vaccine distribution, the $2 trillion infrastructure plan, ending the “Muslim travel ban” and returning to the Paris Climate Agreement.

But he has already backtracked from campaign promises in many vital areas: the fight for $15 per hour, the amount and length of unemployment payments, total household stimulus payments, dropping Medicare eligibility to 60 years old, student debt relief, reversing Trump’s tax cuts for the rich and more.

At 100 days and amid similar economic disaster Franklin Delano Roosevelt had passed 15 major bills which established hugely influential initiatives. Contrarily, Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package did not include a single long-term program.

On foreign policy, Biden has adopted almost all of the stances of his controversial predecessor. He has not lifted sanctions on Iran nor returned to the JCPOA pact on Iran’s nuclear energy program. Russia’s Foreign Minister said Biden’s refusal of diplomacy and “lack of respect” could make relations worse than even during the Cold War. He has not taken Cuba off the “state terrorist” list and he adopted Trump’s widely-criticized low quota for asylum-seekers despite a crisis on the southern border.

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