Democrat Candidates Avoid Mentioning or Appearing with Biden While Campaigning

Democrat candidates in tough elections nationwide appear to be avoiding being seen with or speaking about President Joe Biden, whose approval rating continues to drop after being in office for over a year.

In Georgia last month, gubernatorial Democrat candidate Stacey Abrams, who famously refused to concede when she lost her campaign against now-Gov. Brian Kemp, was notably absent from Biden’s voting rights rally in her state.

Despite Abrams claiming to be a champion of voting rights, an aide told the New York Times that she would not be attending the speech, citing a prior commitment.

In Texas last month, gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke — who lost trying to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018, and a failed presidential bid in 2020 — said during a press conference he has “no interest” in receiving help from Biden or any Washington, D.C. politician during his campaign for governor.

“I’m not interested in any national politician — anyone outside of Texas — coming into this state to help decide the outcome of this,” O’Rourke said at a news conference. “I think we all want to make sure that we’re working with, listening to, and voting with one another here in Texas.”

In Pennsylvania last month, two Democrat candidates holding statewide office were no-shows for Biden when he visited the state. Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D), a leading contender for the open U.S. Senate seat, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a leading contender in the gubernatorial race, cited a scheduling conflict for their reasons to not greet the President on his arrival to the Keystone State, PolticsPA reported.

Additionally, Axios reported last week that swing district House and Senate candidates avoid mentioning “Biden” or “@POTUS” on social media accounts for their campaigns. The report noted that Abby Finkenauer, who’s running for Senate in Iowa, and Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), who’s running for Senate in Florida, have avoided tweeting anything with the President’s name in it.

Furthermore, vulnerable House Democrats have also avoided mentioning the President’s name on campaign account since September 1, the day after Biden finished his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to data reviewed by Axios. Since then, the data showed Reps. Cindy Axne (D-IA), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Jared Golden (D-ME), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) have not used “Biden” or “@POTUS.” However, Reps. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Antonio Delgado (D-NY) have only mentioned the President when urging him to act on a specific issue. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) did mention Biden by name but only in a “retweet” of a video on Twitter talking about the passing of a bill.

All of this comes as Biden has seen some of his lowest poll numbers as President. A January Quinnipiac poll showed Biden’s approval numbers have dropped to only 33 percent with adult citizens, which also beats former President Donald Trump’s worst approval rating by one point.

The same poll showed that Biden only 25 percent of the independents supported approved of Biden’s job performance, while 58 percent of the independents disapproved.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.

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