President Biden’s approval numbers remain stuck at near-record lows as he faces a series of setbacks, according to a new poll.
The latest Gallup survey released Friday finds that roughly 41 percent of U.S. adults approve of the job Biden is doing just over a year into office, about the same as previous surveys showing him underwater among the public.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed in the latest poll disapprove of Biden’s job performance as president. That’s a near reversal from his approval numbers when he entered office, when 57 percent of adults surveyed said they approved of the way he was handling his job.
Gallup noted that Biden’s average approval rating for this point in his term is lower than all other predecessors going back to the 1950s, with the exception of former President Trump, who had a 39.1 percent favorability during the same period in his term.
Several post-World War II presidents in their first term even had fifth-quarter averages above 50 percent, with three — John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — above 70 percent, according to Gallup’s data.
Biden’s approval numbers have steadily fallen since he took office in January 2021, and the latest survey tracks with other recent polls, including a Politico-Morning Consult poll from last month that found Biden’s approval at about 45 percent.
Biden’s upside-down job approval rating could ultimately impact this year’s midterm elections, with Democrats defending slim majorities in the House and Senate.
“While it is possible that Biden’s job approval could increase between now and the fall elections, doing so would go against the historical pattern for second-year presidents,” Gallup’s analysts report.
“The prospects for significant improvement in Biden’s job approval ratings before the fall midterms seem dim not only because of the historical record for second-year presidents, but because his approval ratings have been stuck in the low 40s for eight months.”
Biden has faced a series of major challenges since taking office, including the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, rising consumer prices for food and gas, surges in cases amid the COVID-19 pandemic and an influx of migrants attempting to cross the nation’s southern border.
The president has set out on an aggressive travel schedule in recent days to tout achievements from his time in office, including a crucial $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending plan that passed Congress with bipartisan support last year.