President doing worse than Trump at appealing to voters across divide

Joe Biden is more divisive after 100 days in office than Donald Trump was. According to Gallup 94 per cent of Democrats approve of Mr Biden’s performance, and only 11 per cent of Republicans do.

For Mr Trump the Gallup figures at the same stage were 87 per cent approval among Republicans, and 12 per cent among Democrats.

It shows both presidents failed to appeal to Americans who didn’t vote for them. But Mr Biden has actually been doing a slightly worse job of it.

As Mr Biden delivered his first address to Congress on Wednesday the division appeared even more marked in the chamber than in the country.

Republicans stayed firmly seated as Democrats leaped up and clapped like they were at a politburo meeting.

Mitch Mcconnell, the Republican Senate leader, sat stony-faced as Mr Biden outlined tax hikes, $6 trillion (£4.3trillion) of spending splurges, and an expansion of big government not seen in over half a century.

It was hard to tell whether Ted Cruz, the Republican senator, was snoozing or rolling his eyes in disgust. Even the most moderate of Republicans, Mitt Romney, looked unmoved as Mr Biden pleaded for Republican support.

That may have been because Mr Romney, a multimillionaire, will be among the wealthiest one per cent whom Mr Biden promised to make “pay their fair share” in tax.

Republicans are wondering what happened to Mr Biden. Among the reasons he won the 2020 election, a key one was that moderate Republican voters found him palatable. His record over decades in the Senate, and eight years as vice president, suggested someone with more in common with Mr Romney than Bernie Sanders, the Left-wing Democrat.

But in office Mr Biden has abandoned compromise. He is on a mission to force through huge government programmes. Allies say the pandemic had a deep effect on him and he became convinced that America has reached a juncture, and that it needs transformative change.

It was notable that in his speech he quoted only one former president, Franklin D Roosevelt, the Democrat author of the 1930s New Deal. Also noteworthy was that, immediately after his address, Mr Biden chose to go and talk at length to Mr Sanders.

The former rivals shared a chat and a fist bump, knowing they were on live television. It was a signal from Mr Biden about where his priorities lie. It may play into Mr Trump’s hands as Republicans turn to him to counter an increasingly Leftist Democrat agenda.