Two of President Joe Biden’s most significant legislative wins, the Senate’s advancement of historic physical and human infrastructure packages, have been overshadowed by two totally unrelated stories: the resignation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Taliban’s toppling of Afghanistan’s democratic government.
According to a new poll published Wednesday by Morning Consult, 49% had heard “a lot” about Cuomo’s resignation, which he announced after New York Attorney General Letitia James determined he sexually harassed numerous women, while 36% answered the same way about the Taliban takeover.
Conversely, only 34% and 27% had heard “a lot” about the Senate’s passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill last Tuesday and the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation infrastructure package last Wednesday, respectively.
Morning Consult additionally noted that the bipartisan split on each of the four items was significantly smaller than the average split “difference in 240 news items tested in Morning Consult/Politico surveys so far this year,” which was 11 points.
The president has commented heavily on all of the aforementioned storylines, but he did not devote full, scheduled remarks to the Cuomo saga. Instead, he reiterated his calls for Cuomo to resign while fielding questions from the press at the White House.
Biden delivered speeches on the passage of both packages last week at the White House but also spent the past two months lobbying support for the proposals while visiting a number of states, including Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Biden’s nationally televised address on the Taliban takeover, delivered Monday afternoon from the White House, also came after the poll concluded.
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The poll was conducted between Aug. 13-16 and had a sample size of 1,999 voters.
