Poll: Biden Job Approval Second Lowest Among Presidents Since 1950s

By Staff, Agencies

A new poll shows that US President Joe Biden's approval ratings hit near-record lows as he faces a series of setbacks.

The latest Gallup survey released Friday finds that about 41 percent of American adults approve of the job Biden is doing just over a year into office.

During Biden's fifth quarter in office, which began on January 20 and ended on April 19, an average of 41.3 percent of Americans approved of the job he was doing as president, the poll said. 

Gallup's latest update on Biden's job approval, from an April 1-19 survey, finds 41 percent of Americans approving and 56 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 became the president in January 2021, when 57 percent of adults surveyed said they approved of the way he was handling his job.

Gallup noted that Biden's fifth quarter average is lower than that of any prior elected president, except Donald Trump. Trump averaged 39.1 percent during his fifth quarter.

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, 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, according to The Hill.

Biden’s poor job approval rating could ultimately impact midterm elections in November, with Democrats set to lose 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.”

Democrats are widely expected to lose control of the House and possibly the Senate to Republicans, who are likely to block many of Biden's legislative efforts.

The drop indicates that the small burst of momentum the Democratic president briefly enjoyed last week when his approval rating hit 45 percent, has stalled.

The president’s dismal approval rating suggests he has led the country to the brink of a recession or worse.

Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, said, “We’re living through a generationally scarring moment. Things still feel so precarious, so it’s understandable people would feel a greater sense of economic risk, like their prosperity is fragile.”