Majority of viewers approved of Biden address to Congress: poll

An overwhelming majority of CBS viewers approved of President Biden’s address to Congress Wednesday night, according to a poll from the network.

More than 8 in 10 viewers, 85 percent, said they approved of Biden’s message, while just 15 percent said they disapproved of the speech. Nearly the same number, 78 percent, said the speech made them feel “optimistic about America.”

The speech was Biden’s first to a joint session of Congress.

A much smaller 13 percent said the speech made them more “pessimistic about America.” The vast majority thought Biden appeared “presidential” (89 percent), “caring” (89 percent) and “inspiring” (84 percent).

The poll was tilted heavily in favor of Democrats, CBS noted, with 54 percent of CBS viewers in the poll identifying themselves as such compared to just 18 percent who said they were Republicans and 25 percent who said they were independents.

The infrastructure and jobs plan pushed by the administration and detailed by Biden during Wednesday’s address also received high marks with 85 percent of respondents said they supported the plan, while 15 percent said they disliked it.

CBS’s poll was taken entirely from CBS News viewers who watched Wednesday’s address, including 943 responses all taken Wednesday evening. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.