Down We Go: Biden's Approval Ratings Hit New Low as 36% Approve of His Job, New Poll Reveals

During his first six months as president, Biden's approval rating was in the low to mid-50s. However, the president's popularity began to dip in August, following the widely panned handling of the tumultuous US exit from Afghanistan and a spike in COVID-19 cases this summer due to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant.

President Joe Biden's approval ratings are continuing to decline, a new Quinnipiac University national poll released on Thursday showed.

The president currently has a 36% approval rating and a 53% disapproval rating. In the polling, the president has the lowest level of public favor since taking office in January. In contrast to Quinnipiac's October poll, Biden's approval dropped a point while his disapproval rose a point.

Along party lines, Democrats gave the president approval by an 87%-7% margin and Republicans disapproved by a 94%-4% margin. Only 29% of independent voters approve of Biden's handling of his responsibilities as president, while 56% disapprove.

Interestingly, in a separate nationwide poll released on Thursday as well by Marquette University Law School, the president received 49% support and 51% disapproval. Biden's approval rating in the survey, which was conducted on November 1-10, was down nine points from the previous Marquette poll, which was done in July, according to the data.

According to the poll, Biden also has a 45% favorable and 49% negative national "favorability" rating. Biden has a difficult time with independents, the majority of whom are unfavorable to him (55%). He also has made limited inroads with Republicans, whose approval rating is mirrored to his Democratic approval rate (83%-13%).

Noticeably, in the Quinnipiac survey conducted November 11-15, the president scored his lowest marks to date on four important issues on his agenda.

On tackling the pandemic, Biden received 45% approval and 50% disapproval; 41%-48% on climate change; 34%-59% on dealing with the economy; and 33%-55% on handling international affairs.

In light of the disparity, the division and polarization of society surfaced as the most worrying problems for Americans (11%), followed by the economy (10%), border security (8%) and inflation (8%), an equal number of respondents (47% -47%) believe that Biden cares/does not care about ordinary citizens.

The poll results suggest a slim majority (52%-41%) believes Biden is dishonest, while a larger majority (57%-37%) believes the president lacks leadership skills.

The ongoing and increasing surge of migrants attempting to get into the country along the southern border with Mexico exacerbated the president's low approval ratings, the researchers suggested. Also, the surge in consumer prices this summer and autumn has added to people's dissatisfaction with the president's performance.

61% of those polled believe the economy is deteriorating, with seven out of ten saying rising food and gasoline prices have prompted them to alter their spending patterns.

The almost $1 trillion spending infrastructure bill to upgrade the nation's roads, bridges, broadband, and other infrastructure projects is supported by a majority of Americans, 57% to 37%. The almost $2 trillion spending measure on social programs including child care, education, family tax relief, and increasing Medicare for seniors is supported by a majority of voters as well, 58% to 38%.

"Is the Biden administration's signature legislation enough to start righting the ship? $3 trillion to fortify the country's infrastructure backbone and shore up the future of American families through social programs still gets hearty support from Americans. But from the character issues to the broad swath of national and international concerns, that ship continues to take on water," Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy is quoted in the press release as saying.

Voters See Parties as Unresponsive, Want GOP to Lead Congress

The poll also touched on the position of the main parties in US political life. 54% of those polled believe the Democratic Party is unconcerned about the interests and concerns of individuals like them. However, a slightly higher 56% expressed the same dissatisfaction with the Republican Party.

A slim majority said the Democratic Party had moved too far to the left, and Democrats in Congress received a 31%-59% approval and disapproval rating. Republicans in Congress, on the other hand, fared even worse, with a negative 25%-62% job approval rating.

Nevertheless, those polled said they would like to see the Republican Party win control of the House next year by a 46% to 28% margin if the midterm elections were held today, with 16% saying they had no opinion.

Those polled stated they want the GOP to win the Senate majority by a 46%-40% margin, with 15% saying they do not care.

In next year's midterm elections, Democrats will be defending their House and Senate majority, with the entire 435-member House and one-third of the 100-member Senate up for election.