Miami Students Weigh in on Biden’s First 100 Days

Biden’s first 100 days have generated controversy from figures on both the left and the right. Although many voters settled for Biden, others on the left considered his presidency to be the saving grace of America, or a redemption from the era of Trump.

His polling numbers say otherwise. 

According to a poll by RealClearPolitics, Biden, in his first 100 days, obtained a 52.7 percent approval rating. Excluding Trump and Clinton, this is the lowest rating of any president at this stage in office since 1980. 

An NBC assessment concurs that 59 percent of people approve of Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic but only 33 percent of people approve of his handling of the southern border crisis. 

To investigate how students at Miami University felt about Biden’s first 100 days, The Miami Patriot sent out a poll to hear students’ thoughts and ideas on his presidency so far. 

Of the students who chose to partake in the study, 61.9 percent voted for Trump and 28.6 percent voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Other participants voted for libertarian Jo Jorgenson or chose to write in. Yet, 66.7 percent of participants are not impressed with the Biden administration so far.  

Among students that voted for Biden, their grievances include Biden’s failure to address the nation early on along with a lack of immigration, gun, healthcare, and criminal justice reform. However, despite these drawbacks, Biden supporters consistently support the President on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Miami sophomore stated that she was particularly pleased with “his $1.9 trillion dollar American Rescue Plan, […], funding for K-12 schools to facilitate reopening” and the decision to expedite vaccine distribution among other COVID-19 related policies. Others also expressed support for his decision to halt the Keystone Pipeline. 

As for students that voted for Trump, they were unimpressed with the halting of the pipeline, the immigration crisis, Biden’s allowance of transgender atheletes in female sports, and his plans for gun reform. 

When asked what they were impressed with during the Biden administration, the majority of Trump-supporting respondents stated that there was not much to be impressed with. The overall sentiment is that “he hasn’t really seemed to do anything” states Sean Piedmonte. 

Students that decided to vote for a third party or write in wished he had done more for the legalization of marijuana and immigration reform. But they were happy with climate reform and Biden’s commitment to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by early September. 

A majority of Biden supporters felt that America’s allies respect us more under the new administration since the U.S. plans on rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO). In contrast, Trump supporters believe that Biden looks weak to our allies. Both parties, for various reasons, seem to believe that China and Russia respect the U.S. less under the Biden Administration. 

There were key issues however, that despite political affiliation, students tended to agree on. One of these issues was Biden’s study to consider packing the Supreme Court, with which 81.0 percent of participants disagreed. Some even described it as “tyrannical” and believed the move would set a negative precedent for future administrations to expand the court whenever they feel like it. Additionally, the results show that nearly everyone was critical of the response to the current crisis at the border. 

When asked whether or not Biden would fulfill his campaign’s promises in the future, the majority of respondents answered “no” or “maybe”, thereby revealing their lack of hope and trust in the new President.