One year in, Biden’s polling worse than Trump

A new Quinnipiac University poll found that only 33% of voters approve of President Biden, while 53% disapprove. A poll by the same organization in early 2018 put Donald Trump’s approval rating five points higher.

Released on Wednesday, the poll showed that Biden’s approval rating continues to plummet. The last such poll by Quinnipiac in November recorded an approval rating of 36% for the Democratic president, down from 49% last February.

Respondents slammed Biden in three key areas: the economy, where 34% approved of his job and 57% disapproved; foreign policy (35%/54%), and his response to the coronavirus (39%/55%). From a popularity standpoint, the latter area is a crucial one for the Biden administration. Biden promised on the campaign trail that he would “shut down” the coronavirus without shuttering the US economy, and voters took him at his word. A month into his tenure in the White House, some 58% of voters approved of his handling of the virus.

Now, with Biden’s vaccine mandates alienating conservatives, with the Omicron variant spreading freely, and with more Americans dying with the virus under Biden than under Trump, that figure has fallen by nearly 20 points.

Economically, Americans are grappling with soaring inflation, consistently underwhelming monthly jobs reports, and shortages of food and consumer goods. With the Biden administration thus far unable to correct course, Biden’s approval in this department has fallen 14 points since last February.

The decline in Biden’s approval has been noted across all demographic groups, with only Democrats and African-Americans maintaining a net positive opinion of the president. Although 75% of Democrats approve of the job Biden’s doing, this number is also falling sharply, down from 87% just two months ago.

By contrast, the same Quinnipiac poll put Donald Trump’s approval rating at 38% in February 2018, around the same point of his presidency. Trump’s disapproval rating was higher, however, at 57%. Biden’s current approval rating is equal to Trump’s lowest ever in a Quinnipiac poll, with the former president scoring 33% in mid-2017 and last January following the riot on Capitol Hill.

Democrats have made this riot a cornerstone of their messaging, using the one-year anniversary of the event last week to push a controversial domestic terror crackdown and accuse Republicans of placing “a dagger at the throat of democracy,” in Biden’s words. Voters, however, are increasingly tired of hearing about it.

While 50% of those polled by Quinnipiac called the riot “an attack on democracy that should never be forgotten,” 44% agreed that “too much is being made of the storming of the US Capitol and it’s time to move on.” Back in August, 57% said it should never be forgotten and 38% said it was time to move on.