Biden's approval rating drops to new low of 33% on concerns about his handling of COVID, economy: poll

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's approval rating dropped to 33% in a new Quinnipiac University poll, the lowest mark of any major public survey during his presidency, as he takes a beating over his handling of the economy and coronavirus.

The poll, conducted Jan. 7 though Jan. 10 and released Wednesday, found 33% of all 1,313 adults surveyed approve of Biden's job performance, while 53% disapprove. Ten percent did not offer an opinion.

The poll has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points. When isolating just registered voters, Biden's approval rating improves slightly to 35%.

Biden's dismal numbers come as inflation has soared to a 39-year high and COVID-19 cases, which were on the decline last summer, have spiked to an all-time high amid the rise of the highly contagious omicron variant. Biden, who is nearing his first full year in office, campaigned on getting the pandemic under control and reviving the economy.

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The poll found wavering support among Biden's own party, with 75% of Democrats approving of Biden's job performance and 14% of Democrats disapproving. More than half of political independents, 57%, said they disapprove of Biden's job performance, while just 25% in that crucial voting bloc said they approve. Biden is getting virtually no crossover support from Republicans, with 95% saying they disapprove of his job and 2% approving.

"COVID," Tim Malloy, polling analyst for Quinnipiac, said of the main factor behind Biden's polling slide. "It's a looming cloud over the country right now and over the presidency."

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For most of his presidency, Biden's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had been his top polling strength. But the new poll found his support in this area has cratered, with 39% of Americans saying they approve of Biden's response to the coronavirus, compared to 55% who disapprove.

The majority of Americans also gave Biden a thumbs down on the economy. Thirty-four percent of poll respondents said they approve of Biden's handling of the economy, compared to 57% who disapprove, and 35% said they approve of his handling of foreign policy, while 54% disapprove.

In November, the Quinnipiac poll found Biden's approval rating at 36% among all American adults and 38% among registered voters. Other recent polls this year have found Biden's approval rating between 40% and 45%. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows 42% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance and 53% disapprove.

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After riding high during his first six months in office, Biden's job approval dipped below 50% in several polls for the first time in August, coinciding with his administration's chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan and the rise of the delta COVID-19 variant. It picked up slightly in December, but has dropped again in polling taken so far in 2022.

"The president is at a steady, slow, undramatic slide, and it continued in this poll," Malloy said. He called 33% "not a devastatingly low number," noting that other presidents, including President Donald Trump, polled at similar clips. "But this is not a great one-year anniversary for him. That's for sure."

Other findings in the poll include:

► In the generic congressional ballot, 43% of American adults said they want to see Republicans in control of Congress compared to 42% who said they prefer Democrats

►58% of Americans said democracy is in danger of collapse, compared to 37% who said it is not

►53% of American adults said it is either likely or somewhat likely there is another attack in the U.S. similar to what happened at th Capitol Jan. 6, 2021

► 61% of Americans said they support the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, while 33% oppose it

►57% of Americans said they believe there was not widespread fraud in the 2020 election, compared to 34% who believe there was

► 59% of those polled said they would not like to see Trump run for president in 2024

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's approval rating falls to new low, Quinnipiac poll finds