Joe Biden sinks into the polls low for the anniversary – only one was unpopular

365 days in office
Only one post-war president was less popular: Biden sinks into the polls on the anniversary

by Marc Drewello
01/20/2022, 5:39 p.m

Joe Biden certainly imagined things differently on January 20, 2021: One year after being sworn in as US President, the Democrat’s reputation among voters has reached a new low. In a survey by the research institute AP Norc Center, for the first time a majority disapproved of his leadership, as reported by the Associated Press (AP) news agency. According to this, 56 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way Biden is doing his job and only 43 percent are satisfied with it. In addition, only 28 percent of those surveyed and only 48 percent of the Democrats surveyed wanted the 79-year-old to stand for re-election in 2024.

In July, according to AP, 59 percent of citizens in an AP-NORC survey answered that they were satisfied with Biden’s work. After the chaotic and bloody withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan, the rise in coronavirus infections and the administration’s problems enforcing its economic, infrastructure and tax policies in Congress, his approval rating fell to 50 percent by the end of September.

Joe Biden is only ahead of Donald Trump

Numerous other surveys confirm the negative impression: In a survey the US newspaper “Politico” and the institute Morning Consult 56 percent of respondents disapproved of Biden’s leadership and only 40 percent were satisfied with it. In the Rasmussen Report the ratio was 58 to 41 percent on Wednesday, in a Yougov poll for The Economist at 53 to 42 percent and Gallup pollsters reported 56 percent satisfied versus 40 percent dissatisfied on Tuesday.

Biden’s average approval rating in his first 365 days in the White House was 48.9 percent, according to Gallup. This puts Barack Obama’s former Vice President behind all post-war US President-elects – with the exception of Donald Trump. At 38.4 percent, this had an even lower average rating in the first year than its successor. Bill Clinton’s average was only 0.4 percentage points higher than Biden’s, but all other presidents ranged from 57 percent (Obama, Ronald Reagan) to 76.4 percent (John F. Kennedy) approval.

In its analysis, Gallup finds similar connections as AP: From January to June 2021, Biden’s approval ratings fluctuated between 54 and 57 percent. Back then, the US saw a precipitous decline in Covid-19 infections and deaths due to millions of vaccinations. In July, his public support waned for the first time when the number of corona infections rose sharply again as the Delta variant advanced.

After US troops withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of August, the country was overrun by the Taliban and 13 US soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack at Kabul airport, Biden slipped further in the polls, writes Gallup. And given the highest inflation in the US in four decades and a further increase in Covid cases from the omicron variant, he has not yet recovered from it.

Voters doubt Biden’s health

There is also something else that worries many voters about their president: his age. Only about a quarter of respondents are very confident that Biden “has the intellectual capacity to effectively serve as President” or “is healthy enough to serve as President effectively,” the AP reports in its poll. Almost half have no confidence in the mental abilities of the 79-year-old or in his health.

Biden himself is outwardly unimpressed by the growing public rejection. When a reporter pointed out at a press conference on Wednesday that a significant percentage of citizens had concerns about their mental health, he just shrugged. And when asked about his waning popularity, he simply replied, “I don’t believe the polls.”

Sources: Associated Press, Gallup, Real Clear Politics