President Joe Biden celebrated Independence Day with an optimistic tweet as he prepared to host military families for a barbecue at the White House and fireworks on the National Mall.
With the national mood soured by soaring prices at the gas pump and the grocery aisle, Biden sought to put a hopeful stamp on the July Fourth holiday weekend.
“Make no mistake, our best days still lie ahead,” Biden tweeted.
Biden called the Fourth a “sacred day” with a special only-in-America meaning for all of us.
“The Fourth of July is a sacred day in our country,” he said. “It’s a time to celebrate the goodness of our nation, the only nation on Earth founded based on an idea: that all people are created equal.”
Biden and first lady Jill Biden were set to return to the White House Monday afternoon from a long weekend at Camp David.
The first family will host military families for a barbecue at the White House and watch the fireworks show Monday night over the National Mall.
Exactly a year ago, Biden presided over a similar Independence Day party that was billed as the first big public spectacle after the COVID pandemic.
With the economy roaring back to life, the president’s approval rating stood in the high-50% range, and Fed policymakers were still calling inflation a “transitory” phenomenon.
Things could hardly have gone worse for Biden since then.
Even though the impact of the pandemic has faded, his polling numbers have plunged by 20%, meaning about one in three voters who said they liked the job he was doing 12 months ago now don’t.
Only 14% of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, down from 44% a year ago.
Prices have rocketed by nearly 10% and even though unemployment is near an all-time low, millions of Americans are worried about a possible recession on the horizon.
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