Biden dismisses bad polling numbers: 'They were the same when I ran and won'

President Biden on Thursday dismissed his bad polling numbers, saying he won the 2020 presidential election despite poor polling during the Democratic primary.

“I know the polling numbers are not good, but they were the same way when I ran and won. Everybody thought I was gonna get clobbered in the primary. I got 80 million votes in the last election,” Biden said in a MSNBC interview with host Nicolle Wallace.

Biden's 80 million votes against President Trump in 2020 set the record for the most votes cast for any presidential candidate, in part because more votes were cast in 2020 than in any other U.S. election.

During the Democratic primary, Biden’s bid seemed all but over after disappointing results in Iowa and New Hampshire. But, it was turned around when he won the South Carolina primary, largely due to Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-S.C.) endorsement.

Now, Biden is campaigning for his reelection as recent polls have shown the president struggling to reach much above a 40 percent approval rating.

A poll this week also showed that 34 percent of U.S. adults approve of the president’s handling of the economy, while another poll showed that 68 percent of Americans are concerned about the president’s mental and physical health.

He noted in the interview with MSNBC the better-than-expected results Democrats had in the midterm elections, which he claimed he predicted. 

“I remember I was saying that I thought the Democratic Party was going to do extremely well in the off-year election,” he said.

“We’re gonna lose 40 seats and all that,” he recalled people predicting at the time.

Democrats in 2022 held onto the Senate, increasing their margin by one seat, and were able to hold onto more seats in the House than expected.