While Democrats across the country have attempted to distance themselves from Biden and his failed agenda, Washington Democrats have embraced him.
President Joe Biden flew 4,700 miles to Seattle aboard Air Force One on Thursday to celebrate Earth Day. The jet creates an average of 54 pounds of carbon per mile, totaling 254,000 pounds of carbon on this trip, which is more than the carbon 8 Americans create in a year. That number does not even include the motorcade, nor the police cruisers stopping idling traffic for hours during the visit.
NOW: President @JoeBiden arrives at Green River College near Seattle to chants of “Let’s Go Brandon.” pic.twitter.com/yIC8WYyD6Q
— Katie Daviscourt?? (@KatieDaviscourt)
Biden, who never misses a photo-op on a bicycle, likely wanted to be surrounded by the 33 percent of Americans who still support his radical green agenda and his other failed policies that have had disastrous results for the American people.
Biden: "We need to get off this roller coaster of relying on oil." pic.twitter.com/dzyzeC5Z7Q
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial)
In order to do this, he stopped by Portland, Ore. first, failing to actually go to the heart of downtown Portland, which has been rocked by Antifa riots and spiking crime in the wake of the defunding the police movement. Instead, Biden spent his time giving a speech at the airport and attending a DNC fundraiser at a yacht club.
Starting to rain a little bit by the Yacht Club. Roughly two dozen Trump supporters remain outside. Looks like the @POTUS motorcade will be coming the opposite direction. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/r13J4EDy7K
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU)
Portland is also facing a homeless crisis and the optics of a trip touting his climate accomplishments would have been a stark contrast to the trash and waste on the streets.
Biden’s team may have thought they were headed to friendly territory, but Oregon Public Broadcasting polling released Thursday showed voters disapproved of Biden by a margin of 35 percent to 63 percent in the state with 53 having a "very negative" opinion.
Biden is underwater even in OREGON!
Oregon Public Broadcasting polling released today shows voters disapprove of Biden by a margin of 35% to 63% in the state - 53% have a VERY NEGATIVE opinion.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch)
From there it was onto the Evergreen state where Washingtonians only approve of Biden's performance by 42 percent, who also hold a 60 percent negative view of the job Democrat Governor Jay Inslee has done in the state. This even though Biden won Seattle, the biggest city in the state, by 53 points in 2020.
Though Inslee's reputation, for the few Americans who have heard of him, is that of an climate change activist, Inslee regularly misses his targets for combating climate change.
During the Obama administration, Air Force One would typically land at Boeing Field, located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. However, last week the plane landed at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Many speculated this was due to the visible rampant homelessness in the Georgetown area. The encampments across the city for years have been not just safety hazards, but ecological ones as well.
WATCH: I asked people in Seattle what they think of President @JoeBiden when we got stuck on the highway because of his motorcade.
Here’s what they had to say! pic.twitter.com/WyyjoCTEYY
— Katie Daviscourt?? (@KatieDaviscourt)
In preparation for Biden’s visit, Seattle Democrat Mayor Bruce Harrell began clearing notorious homeless encampments in the downtown corridor at a breakneck pace. The Mayor previously took similar actions to clear parade routes, but the campers quickly returned.
HAPPENING NOW: Mini homeless encampments sweeps all across #Seattle. Two this morning near Belltown monorail and West Lake Center. Another at Thorndyke Park. Anywhere between 2-10 tents at each location. I can’t keep up. City says more on the way. pic.twitter.com/54Q3TgKHNG
— Jonathan Choe Journalist (@choeshow)
Biden’s visit to Seattle came as the city is experiencing a spike in violent crime following Seattle Democrats defunded the police multiple times, leading to record-high crime throughout the city. The quality of living has gotten so bad that a recent survey found that two-thirds of Seattle voters have considered moving out of the city.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
The city has seen "over a 95% increase in more shots fired" and "a 171% increase in people being shot compared to last year." In 2021, violent crime in Seattle reached a 14-year high, up 20 percent from the prior year. In 2022, violent crime in the city has already "matched or surpassed last year’s numbers," according to the Seattle Times.
Seattle is short hundreds of officers from even achieving minimal staffing levels, and is operating at levels not seen since the 1990s when the city was half the size. The police force is so understaffed that it did not investigate a single case of sex assault on an adult last month and 911 response times have skyrocketed.
Businesses in downtown Seattle have been forced to work remotely due to "ongoing violence," with Amazon recently relocating its employees from a downtown office due to the safety concerns. The downtown flagship McDonald’s temporarily closed their doors as they were unable to "guarantee the safety of their employees." Almost 90 percent of the city’s residents are concerned about the future of safety in downtown Seattle.
While Democrats across the country have attempted to distance themselves from Biden and his failed agenda, Washington Democrats have embraced him.
However, local leftists were quick to demonstrate a new reason why Biden has lost support in his own party.
On Friday, Biden visiting Seward Park in South Seattle and signed an executive order relating to forest protection. However, the park is not a forest and was so obviously used as a photo-op backdrop, it was even called out by those on the left side of the political spectrum.
But when @POTUS visited this diverse community on Earth Day, the people in power didn't make space for the local, elected people of color and young leaders who could have been in this photo. Instead, he's surrounded by the mostly older, white, DC elites he's with ALL THE TIME.11/ pic.twitter.com/uhfDbFY1Ud
— Sophia (@sophiaclimbs)
The park is in one of the most diverse zip codes in the United States, yet one self identified environmentalist noted the lack of diversity in Biden’s photo ops and posted on Twitter, "But when @POTUS visited this diverse community on Earth Day, the people in power didn't make space for the local, elected people of color and young leaders who could have been in this photo. Instead, he's surrounded by the mostly older, white, DC elites he's with ALL THE TIME."
This photo could have been taken in DC without the GHG emissions. Did these folks show up, look around & think—"wow! this won't look good"—because they should have! This is what happens when you don't have advisors who notice these issues and are willing to speak up. 12/ pic.twitter.com/UN4JK2d149
— Sophia (@sophiaclimbs)
She added, "This photo could have been taken in DC without the GHG emissions. Did these folks show up, look around & think—"wow! this won't look good"—because they should have! This is what happens when you don't have advisors who notice these issues and are willing to speak up."
Biden: "One thing I've found out as the President of the United States, I get to spend a lot of that money ... I'm going to start the process where every vehicle in the United States military—every vehicle—is going to be climate-friendly." pic.twitter.com/ggJ1XKPj0T
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial)
While speaking following the signing Biden pledged to make American military vehicles electric, despite many foreign countries having unreliable power grids.
In deep blue Washington, Biden’s inflation crisis, which is at record highs, is being felt by everyone of all political positions. Nationally, March’s Consumer Price Index spiked by 8.5 percent compared to last year, yet Washington has seen costs rise faster than the national average, with consumer prices rising on the West Coast by 8.7 percent since last year. According to an estimate from Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, Biden’s record high inflation is costing Washington families $509 per month
Last month, average gas prices in the state reached a new record high of $4.74 and are currently up $1.29 from one year ago. On top of the 50 cents per gallon state tax currently in place, Washington Democrats recently passed a CO2 tax that will increase state taxes on gas by another 58 cents starting in 2024.
Washington has seen monthly median costs for a 30-year fixed mortgage rising by $430 in just the last three months with real wages for Washington workers falling during the same time.
Due to higher food prices, Washingtonians are turning to food banks. Volunteers of America, a food bank in Everett, have seen a 25 percent increase in the number of people seeking free food. 80 percent of food recipients at the Helping Hands Food Bank in Sedro-Wolley, have jobs but are still unable to afford rising food prices.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Washington is tied for 34th in the country, trailing 24 Republican-led states, with the Evergreen state receiving a "C" for its lousy pandemic response according to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Washington also ranked 47 in the country for getting children back to in-person school during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What may hurt Biden and the Democrats most of all is even in Washington, which is considered "safe" and a Democrat stronghold, the number of self-identifying Republicans in Washington has increased by 10 points over the last year.