President Biden’s low job approval rating isn’t getting any better.
A NewsNation/DDHQ poll released on Thursday shows that only 42 percent of U.S. voters approve of the job Biden is doing in the White House. By comparison, 58 percent say they disapprove.
That’s largely on par with where his approval rating sat in the same poll conducted last month. Still, it’s the latest evidence that the president’s political fortunes don’t appear to be improving.
Driving Biden’s poor approval rating is deepening economic and financial concerns among voters. According to the poll, 53 percent of voters say they are worse off financially now than they were last year.
What’s more, respondents were almost unanimously worried about inflation, which is rising at its fastest pace in more than 40 years. Ninety-seven percent say they are either somewhat or very concerned about rising prices, up from 89 percent in the same poll conducted in April.
Overall, 72 percent of those surveyed rank inflation at the top of their list of concerns. Crime came in second place, with only 15 percent naming it as the top issue, the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll found.
Biden himself won’t be on the ballot this year, but his party is already facing strong headwinds heading into the midterm elections.
Republicans need to net just five seats in the House and one in the Senate to reclaim their majorities in Congress. Making things more difficult for Democrats is the fact that, historically, the party in power almost always loses ground in Congress in midterm elections.
The poll also found that a plurality of voters – 42 percent – blame Biden for the current state of the economy. Another 18 percent blame congressional Democrats, while 21 percent say Republicans in Congress are responsible.
The NewsNation/DDHQ poll surveyed 1,006 registered voters nationwide from June 19-20. It has a margin of sampling error of +/-3 percentage points.