Biden Receives a 55% Approval Rating From LCHS Students At the End of His First 100 Days

Last updated on May 2, 2021

Right before President Biden’s first 100 days in office were over, he gave an address to a joint session of Congress yesterday at 6:00 P.M. PST. Read what Biden has done in his first 100 days and why the majority of students approve of what he has done so far.

Everything after the separator is the opinion this article’s author. Ethan Kim contributed to this article.

On April 26th, The Outspoken Oppa took to social media to inform LCHS students of what Biden has accomplished in his first 100 days in office and to see what percentage of LCHS students approve of him so far. 

Prefacing the poll, The Outspoken Oppa shared Biden’s campaign promises, split into two lists. 

Here are the promises he has kept:

• Distributed 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots in 100 days 
• Passed a 1.9 trillion dollars COVID-19 economic relief package
• Mandated mask-wearing on federal property
• Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords
• Re-entered negotiations in the Iran Nuclear Deal
• Ended a Trump process to leave the World Health Organization
• Made climate change a national priority 
• Halted construction of Trump’s US-Mexico border wall
• Proposed over two trillion dollars in infrastructure 
• Paused foreclosures and evictions
• Extended student loan repayment pause 

Here are the promises he has not kept:

• Has not ensured a “majority of school can reopen” (46% of public schools students were offered in-person learning on April 7th). 
• Has not created a police oversight community to study paths to police reform
• Has not sent of a congressional bill that repealed liability protection for gun manufacturers 
• Has not made protection for LGBTQ Americans a top legislative priority 
• Has not reunited separated migrant families 
• Has not ended the detention of migrant families by Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
• Has not raised refugee cap 
• Has not raised a 15 dollar federal minimum 
• Has not reversed Trump’s corporate tax cuts
• Has not given 2,000 dollars in individual stimulus 

Further, the poll discussed Biden’s economic policies.

“Biden has passed a 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus for COVID-19 relief and is proposing another 2.3 trillion dollars in government spending within the next fiscal quarter on what he calls infrastructure. Biden has proposed increasing the capital gains tax rate from 23.8% to 43.4%. Only 52% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, which is the third-lowest jobs approval rating for any president in the first 100 days since Harry Truman nearly eight decades ago. The two even worse presidents were Gerald Ford and Donald Trump.”

Lastly, the poll stated his approval ratings on COVID-19 and immigration. 

“Biden’s best approval rating was on his handling of COVID-19, which was 64%. His worse was on his handling of immigration, which was 37%.” 

Of the 169 people who voted on the poll, asking, “Do you approve of Biden’s first 100 days?” 55% said yes, and 45% said no. 

The poll supports a statistically consistent trend of LCHS students voting for Democratic politicians and policies. 

When asked to elaborate on their opinion, participants who voted in favor of Biden’s first 100 days expressed their satisfaction for Biden. Noah Chun, the former editor-at-large of the Outspoken Oppa, said, “When Biden was first elected, the most I was expecting was a reprieve from the constant antagonism of his predecessor. However, he has exceeded my expectations and has made bold policy proposals on the things that matter the most, like combating climate change and recovering from COVID. I was a bit skeptical at first, but his actions and policy decisions so far have convinced me that he is going to change America for the better and set it on the right path forward towards the future.” 

Edwin Tieu, the former managing editor of the Outspoken Oppa, similarly stated, “I believe that Biden’s actions have mostly backed up what he promised when he was campaigning for the job he has now. While he is a breath of fresh air, more needs to be done to address the pressing issues of climate change and global warming. But, what Biden has done sharply contrasts what the previous administration did, and I think that he is on the right track to putting America back where it needs to be.”

Conversely, students who voted against Biden’s first 100 days communicated their dissatisfaction and concern, particularly with his economic policies. Mason Pirkey, the former development editor of the Outspoken Oppa, said, “The president has spent trillions of dollars in just a few months, which is nearing a quarter of our GDP. Government spending under his administration is out of control and there needs to be less regulation to ensure a greater economic recovery.”

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Speaking to both those who celebrate his first 100 days and those who criticize them, at 6:00 PM PST, Biden addressed a joint session of Congress. He outlined his government spending proposals, detailing his intentions for the next phase of his presidency. With enthusiasm for the strength of democracy, Biden laid out ambitious goals.

Here are a few of his plans: 

• 2 trillion dollar plan for infrastructure
• 1.8 trillion for families, children, and students (including universal pre-K)
• A cure for cancer
• Covid relief stimulus 
• Concentrated efforts to propel economic growth 
• Green energy efforts
• Jobs plans
• Increase Medicare’s power to negotiate drug prices
• Police reform legislation by next month (anniversary of Floyd’s death)
• Immigration reform 
• Gun control bills
• Voting Rights Legislation

Merely minutes after his speech, Republican Senator Tim Scott ridiculed the address as a “liberal wishlist of big government waste”. However, most Americans disagree with that sentiment. CBS conducted a poll and found that 85% of Americans approved of the speech. A substantially higher rate of approval than before the speech, it seems that the President’s positivity and bold goals have found favor amongst most Americans.

Many of Biden’s new plans aim to directly fulfill the promises he did not keep in his first 100 days, such as police reform and further expanding stimulus. Nonetheless, Biden has yet to clearly outline how he will uphold his former promises to protect refugees and LGBTQ+ Americans. However, with all that he has accomplished in just the first 100 days, Biden has given Americans substantial reason to expect that he will fulfill those promises.

With restoration and reform as the tone of his administration, most Americans remain optimistic about Biden’s leadership as we enter the next 1,460 days of his presidency.