COVID catches up to Biden
President Biden's job approval ratings are slipping for the first time as the pandemic, thought to be vanquished by the vaccines, comes roaring back.
A Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday found 47 percent of registered voters approved of the job Biden was doing, good for a 3-point net approval rating. He did a little better in an Economist/YouGov survey, but was still at just 49 percent approval. A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted late last month is the most recent to have him above 50 percent.
When a Gallup tracking poll found Biden at exactly 50 percent, the firm said he was "showing the first signs of meaningful decline" in popular support as president. Only 48 percent of independents approved. An ABC News/Ipsos poll found him in the 30s on immigration, crime, and gun violence.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While those issues have been perennial problems for Biden, managing the pandemic has always been an area of strength. But even that is fading as vaccinations slow, the Delta variant rages, and breakthrough cases are reported. Quinnipiac saw his COVID approval rating tumble from 65 percent to 53 percent, with disapproval up from 30 percent to 40 percent.
The public seems to be moving in Biden's direction on mask mandates following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidance, perhaps explaining his stepped up criticism of certain Republican governors. But those numbers also reflect increasing worry about the virus after it looked like the country had turned the corner.
Biden wanted the pandemic to be over and now it is not. A similar, pre-vaccine miscalculation by former President Trump a year ago cost him the country's confidence on the coronavirus — and possibly any chance of re-election.
Still, Biden has two advantages over Trump as he tries to set things right in the next few months. One is that he can tap into a reservoir of goodwill on the virus that his predecessor never built up. The other is that this isn't happening in the middle of a presidential election year. The last two Democratic presidents have taken a beating early on, and again in the midterms, only to rebound two years later.
That offers little comfort to congressional Democrats defending razor-thin majorities, however. One top Democratic operative predicted that if Biden's approval is below 50 percent by year's end, "we're probably f---ed."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Government shutdown looming? Blame the border
Talking Points Democrats and Republicans say funding for immigration enforcement is the budget battle's latest sticking point. That's about all they agree on.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the US'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the US'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Violent resistance has failed Palestinians'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Biden's State of the Union gave Democrats hope but not much else
Talking Points The president was forceful and feisty in his address to congress — so why hasn't it moved the electoral needle?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Hur defends description of Biden's 'poor memory'
speed read Former special counsel Robert Hur defended disparaging remarks made about Biden's age in his report
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump clinch nominations
speed read The current and former president have each secured enough delegates for an election rematch
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden and Bibi duel with incompatible 'red lines' over Gaza
Talking Points The White House and Prime Minister's office have set the stage for a major showdown between allied nations, even if the specifics — and their consequences — are unclear.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Democrats litigate; Republicans fight.'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Biden has contaminated the historic public support for LEGAL immigration'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published