Joe Biden is making history, but it’s likely not the kind any president would want. Gallup, one of the nation’s oldest and most reliable pollsters, has weighed and measured the Biden presidency and found it wanting. This means it will be challenging to turn Biden’s approval numbers around in short order, which he must do if he wants to be re-elected.
Going back as far as 1938, the average presidential job approval rating in April of a president’s fourth year in office is 52%. Donald Trump had a rating of 46%, Barack Obama edged Trump out by one point, and George W. Bush came in higher than both gentlemen at 52%.
Gallup’s presidential approval rating for Biden is staggeringly low at 38.7%.
Unsurprisingly, the rating was split along party lines. The president has the overwhelming approval of his party. The survey showed that 83% of Democrats approve of the job he is doing as commander-in-chief, but only 2% of Republicans agree. Things begin to get interesting in the independent column; that’s where Biden’s approval rating came in at a paltry 33% — hardly a ringing endorsement.
As Americans become more fed up with the traditional two-party system, the number of independents is growing faster than a kudzu vine in the South. Here again Biden was not able to cash in on this third non-party party. Calculating the average over the course of his presidency, the man from Scranton has enjoyed a 38% average approval rating from independents. Ouch!
Biden’s Approval — Tanking Fast
Gallup noted that “Biden’s most recent approval rating places him 277 out of 314 presidential quarters in Gallup history dating back to 1945, placing him in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters.”
(Courtesy of Gallup)
Writing for the Gallup organization, Jeffrey M. Jones asserted, “None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden.” Jones also pointed out that only Jimmy Carter had a “sub-50% average in his 13th quarter.” And we know how that ended for the man from Plains, GA.
Those who did get another bite of the apple for a second term include Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Dubya — the son who bested his father when it came to re-election. Every single one of them posted approval numbers over 50% during the same quarter outlined in the Gallup poll.
Worse still, a graph showing Biden’s quarterly approval numbers continues to head toward rock bottom.
Enthusiasm and Momentum Lacking
Following this year’s State of the Union address, it appeared the president’s campaign was on the upswing. He almost exclusively used his precious time before Congress to tout his accomplishments in what many termed a quasi-campaign speech; however, his message did not appear to bear any long-term fruit.
In the month following the SOTU, Biden beat Trump in nine of the 20 polls posted on RealClearPolitics. This was far and away the best showing for the president this year. However, that bump did not last, and, once again, the president finds himself in a sea of red, trailing 45 in the polls.
Gallup summed up Biden’s poor showing in its approval poll with the following: “With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent, and thus faces a taller task than they did in getting re-elected.” This means the president has his work cut out for him, especially in light of a recent GOP get-out-the-vote drive. As Liberty Nation’s Kelli Ballard recently reported, “Leading up to the 2020 election, Democrats had the advantage, with 51% of registered voters, compared to 46% Republicans. Pew Research now shows the tides are changing, with Dems posting 49% to the GOP at 48%. ”
With just a 1% split between the parties, one of two things must happen: Either one party has to show up and vote in greater numbers than the other, or independents will have to make a clear choice between Biden and Trump. But with such lackluster numbers in his approval rating, it will be a heavy lift for the Biden campaign.
