With less than a year until Election Day, President Biden appears to have abandoned the unpopular phrase, "Bidenomics," in his public speeches, an NBC News report found.
"Since June, President Joe Biden had been freely peppering the word ‘Bidenomics’ into his speeches and remarks mentioning the economy — 101 times, to be exact," the report said. "In doing so, he was attaching his name to a set of administration policies that most Americans don't believe have worked, according to recent polling."
A Fox News poll from mid-November found 78% of voters rate the economy negatively, and the majority feel the worst isn't over. Inflation was the top concern with the majority of those surveyed, but only 29% of voters approved of Biden's handling of the issue, while 69% said they disapproved.
For months, Democratic strategists have warned that the White House's messaging on the economy is not working to change voters' sour feelings about the economy.
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Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told NBC News that the messaging "fell flat" with the public.
"It’s a little bit like Gerald Ford’s ‘Whip Inflation Now’ buttons. Nobody wants to be waving banners that say, ‘I love Bidenomics,’" Brinkley said. "So it’s probably a healthy sign that they’re retooling a campaign slogan to showcase what they feel are their administration accomplishments."
The Biden campaign may be listening, as it's been nearly a month since the president used the phrase in speeches centered on the economy.
Yet the branding hasn't vanished from written statements put out by the White House or the president's re-election campaign, the report said. The White House also pushed back on the report, in a statement to NBC.
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"This story’s economic focus is on how many times the president has uttered a single particular word instead of highlighting the many ways his policies have lowered costs for middle class families, created millions of jobs, and made record investments so that America will own the future," Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler told NBC News.
Tyler pointed to the recently revised gross domestic product "GDP" estimate from the third quarter of 2023, which showed that U.S. economic growth was more substantial than previously projected.
"That’s what this administration and this campaign are focused on: delivering for the American people," he told the outlet.
Yet the "Bidenomics" messaging has left many Democrats frustrated, according to several media reports.
"Whoever came up with the slogan Bidenomics should be fired," one anonymous Democratic strategist previously told NBC. "It’s probably the worst messaging you could ever imagine."
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., admitted he didn't like the term either.
"The people that he [Biden] stands for don’t deal with economics," Clyburn told NBC. "They deal with day-to-day issues. They have to educate their children and feed their families and develop their communities — and that doesn’t sound like ‘Bidenomics.’"
The Washington Post's Leigh Ann-Caldwell said the term had become a "negative word" within the Democratic Party. Democratic lawmakers told the reporter that Biden was at risk of losing swing states over the issue.
"'Bidenomics'’ has really become a negative word, especially among Democrats, because it’s not working," she said on Sunday's "Meet the Press."
In a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, a majority of Democratic voters across six battleground states rated the economy as only "fair" or "poor."
That should be a "bad omen" to the Biden campaign, the New York Times reported.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
