Biden’s Job Approval Drops to Record-Low
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
President Joe Biden’s job approval rating dropped to the lowest level of his presidency on Friday, falling to 39 percent in a new poll.
Biden’s approval rating declined by six percentage points, from 45 percent the previous month, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (AP-NORC). Biden’s approval rating had been falling for the last 12 months of his presidency, per the poll, and dropped below 50 percent for the first time in September.
Friday’s poll was conducted using a sample of 1,172 adults reflecting the U.S. population and has an error margin of 4.0 percentage points. Other polls taken in conjunction with AP-NORC also yielded poor findings for the Biden Administration. Asked whether the country is headed in the right direction, only 20 percent agreed – a figure also reported for confidence in the U.S. economy.
Among the sources of the decline, per analysis by the AP, was a loss of support for Biden among Democrats. Only 73 percent of Biden’s party expressed approval for the president’s performance, a sharp decline from an 82 percent average in earlier polls. Just 33 percent of Democrats believe the country is headed in the right direction, a 16-point drop from April.
The poll also showed how Biden’s approval numbers have declined across the board among ethnic, gender, and age groups.
Among women, Biden’s approval ratings fell seven points to 41 percent, while men rated him even worse at 37 percent. While among Black adults, Biden’s approval rating is still 57 percent – the highest of any group measured – this is also a seven-point decline from last month. Both white and Hispanic voters gave Biden 36 percent approval each.
On age, the poll lumped voters into only two categories – those above and below 45 – and reflected a slight gap in approval: older voters tended to approve of Biden at 42 percent while those under 45 rated him at 36 percent, a six point difference.
The news comes at a bad time for the Biden Administration, with Congressional Midterm elections in November, where the Democratic Party’s chances of retaining its majorities in Congress is bleak. It also comes as the administration addresses a cascade of political challenges – including inflation, supply chain shortages (most notably, baby formula), rising crime and gun violence, and defeats on domestic policy initiatives (e.g., the Build Back Better Act).
Biden has also faced criticism for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, widely panned as chaotic, and for the Administration’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In reporting the poll, the AP quoted some respondents to the survey. “I don’t know how much worse it can get,” said Milan Dempsey, a Democrat and 29-year-old mother from California, who believed that Biden had not delivered on his policies. Meanwhile, Charles Penn, an Independent and factory worker in Indiana, said of the Biden, “He’s the captain of the ship, so he’s responsible,” when discussing the country’s problems.
The new poll was released just as Biden departed for a foreign tour of East Asia – visiting Japan and South Korea for summits and to negotiate deals that curb China and North Korea’s activities in the region.
