NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — As President Joe Biden prepares for a re-election run, he faces questions about his ability to convince voters that the economy is performing well and skepticism about his ability to manage a second term. On Friday, Biden faced another setback when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to probe Biden’s son, Hunter.

Polling has shown that Democratic voters were not excited about Biden's re-election, even before Garland's announcement.

According to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April, only 47% of Democrats want Biden to run again in 2024. Democrats’ enthusiasm for Biden’s presidential campaign has consistently trailed Republicans’ enthusiasm for Donald Trump: In the poll, 55% of Republicans said they want Trump to run again.

Biden’s approval rating in polling by Gallup stood at 41% on average over the past three months. Only Jimmy Carter notched a lower average rating in Gallup’s polling at this point in his presidency, while ratings for Trump were about the same, at 43%.

Garland named David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware, as special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation. It comes as plea deal talks Weiss had been probing hit an impasse.

The appointment of a special counsel ensures that Trump will not stand alone as the only presidential candidate grappling with the fallout of a serious criminal investigation amid the 2024 campaign season.

The cases are hardly equal in the context of the next presidential election. There is no evidence that President Biden himself has committed any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Trump has been charged in a plot to undermine democracy for his actions leading to the January 2021 incident at the Capitol, as well as separate cases.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, Republican chairmain of the House Oversight Committee, has obtained thousands of pages of financial records from various members of the Biden family through subpoenas to the Treasury Department and various financial institutions as part of a congressional probe. He released a statement Friday accusing Garland of “trying to stonewall congressional oversight.”

Comer vowed to “follow the Biden family’s money trail.”

Trump, the overwhelming front-runner in the crowded Republican presidential nomination fight, used the opportunity to put his likely general election opponent on the defensive, referring to the “Biden crime family” and the “Biden cartel.”

In New Hampshire, Buckley acknowledged voters are not excited about Biden's re-election bid.

“But they're really not excited about Trump,” he said. “There’s a seriousness around this election. People can say they’re not excited (about Biden). They can say, 'Oh, he shouldn’t run again.’ But the reality is that he’s the only alternative to Trump.”

Democratic strategist Bill Burton suggested GOP's focus on the president's son would backfire.

“From a political standpoint, I think Republicans are stupid to spend so much time talking about the president’s son,” he said. “People are going to be voting on the economy. They’re going to be voting on who’s tougher on social media companies and national security.”

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