WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden embarks on his reelection campaign, just 33% of American adults say they approve of his handling of the economy and only 24% say national economic conditions are in good shape, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
President Joe Biden answers questions on the U.S. debt limit ahead of a bilateral meeting with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
Public approval of Biden’s handling of the economy remains low in a time of high inflation, a difficult housing market and concerns about a potential U.S. government debt default. American opinion is also gloomy about Biden’s efforts on gun policy and immigration, with only 31% saying they approve of the president’s performance on those hot button issues. Overall, 40% say they approve of the way Biden is doing his job, similar to where his approval rating has stood for much of the past year and a half.
Zoie Mosqueda, 24, who does not identify with any political party, said her family is ready to buy their first home but with the average mortgage interest rate hovering around 6.9%, that goal, at least for now, is out of reach.
People are also reading…
The woman from West Texas said she also has been frustrated with Biden’s handling of gun policy and said he’s fallen short on his campaign promise to implement a fairer immigration policy.
A recent spate of mass shootings around the country, including this month’s shooting at an Allen, Texas mall that left eight victims dead and seven others wounded, has left her wishing that Biden and lawmakers in Washington would do more to address the scourge of gun violence.
Even among Democrats, the poll finds only about half approve of his handling of immigration and gun policy.
“Everything feels a bit crazy right now in this economy,” Mosqueda, a mother of two who works at a boutique and is looking to open her own business, said in explaining her disapproval of Biden’s performance. “My older daughter is in school now, and I just worry that this lack of gun policy stuff could affect her.”
Biden returned late Sunday from a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, for the annual G7 summit where the global economic impact of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine was front-and-center.
The summit was shadowed by the Biden administration’s negotiations with Republican lawmakers to raise the U.S. borrowing authority to prevent a default in early June that could have severe impact on the global economy. Before departing for Japan, Biden canceled scheduled stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia so he could return to the U.S. to focus on the debt limit talks.
“It would be a total catastrophe for the country if they don’t agree to do something,” said Bob Vought, a retired auto parts warehouse manager in St. Petersburg, Florida. He said he strongly disapproves of Biden’s handling of the economy.
Vought, who lives on his Social Security benefit, said inflation is taking a toll on his personal finances.
The Biden administration oversaw two of the bigger Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in recent decades, with a 5.9% increase that took effect in 2022 and 8.7% in 2023. But Vought said that’s not enough to keep up with a rental increase at the trailer park where he lives with his father and the rising costs of food and other basic necessities.
Vought, an independent who typically votes Republican but voted for Biden in 2020, said he’s also been frustrated by the “out of control” rise in illegal crossings by migrants at the U.S. southern border.
In the 2022 budget year, which ended in September, agents apprehended immigrants a record 2.38 million times at the southern border.
Iron workers construct the framework of a $4 billion Panasonic EV battery plant Thursday near DeSoto, Kan. As he embarks on his reelection campaign, just 33% of American adults say they approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy.
Coronavirus restrictions implemented under President Donald Trump, which were known as Title 42, allowed border officials to turn away migrants to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The restrictions recently ended.
While Title 42 was used to deny asylum more than 2.8 million times, it carried no legal consequences, which encouraged repeat attempts by migrants to enter the United States. Border Patrol agents returned to pre-pandemic immigration laws on May 11 that impose stiffer penalties on migrants who enter the U.S. without permission than the emergency health order did.
Despite his frustrations with Biden, Vought said he’d probably vote for the Democrat again if Trump wins the Republican nomination.
“I agree with about half of Trump’s policies, but I think the guy is a liar and is so arrogant,” Vought said. “If those were the only two candidates … I’d have to still vote Biden.”
John Billman, 79, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said Biden doesn’t get enough credit for passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and $280 billion CHIPS Act aimed at boosting the U.S. semiconductor history, or the historically low unemployment rate. The unemployment rate stands at 3.4%,
Billman, who approves of Biden’s performance, said he feels the political conversation has become even more toxic since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“Since January 6, there are so many that seem incredibly angry at the government, that think the government and Biden are only doing bad things,” Billman said. “I mean an infrastructure bill? It’s a bad thing? I have relatives who I respect and love and are intelligent people who say, ‘I hate Biden.’ I can understand disagreeing with him but how can you hate Biden? It’s scary.”
Biden underperforms on the economy even among Democrats: 61% approve of him on the issue, compared with 75% for his job overall. Democrats feel even more dour about the current condition of the nation’s economy, though they continue to be more likely than Republicans to say the country is headed in the right direction (36% vs. 7%) or to rate the economy as good (41% vs. 7%).
Can Biden win again? Here’s how past incumbents fared
Intro
No president wants to give up the power and prestige that comes with the office after only one term, and Joe Biden is no exception. He’s pushing forward even though polls show a majority of Americans don’t want to see him run again.
We went back to look at when modern presidents announced their decisions to seek a second term, what their Gallup approval ratings were at the time and how things turned out for them.
One theme: Primary battles are a sign of whether a president will win reelection. That’s good news for Biden, who appears to have avoided any significant challengers.
Harry Truman
HARRY TRUMAN
He was vice president when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in 1945, near the end of World War II. Truman decided to run for a full term of his own, and he announced his candidacy on March 8, 1948. He had an approval rating of 53% in a poll conducted two months earlier. Truman was expected to lose the general election to Thomas Dewey, a Republican, but he pulled off a narrow victory.
Truman announced on March 29, 1952, that he would not seek a second full term after losing in the New Hampshire primary to Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. His approval rating had sunk to 22% amid economic trouble and the Korean War.
Dwight Eisenhower
DWIGHT EISENHOWER
Eisenhower, a Republican, had an approval rating of 75% shortly before he announced his reelection campaign on Feb. 29, 1956. He had suffered a heart attack months earlier at age 64, leading to questions over whether he would run.
As the former supreme allied commander during World War II, Eisenhower convinced Americans that he was the right leader on the world stage. He defeated Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.
John F. Kennedy
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, before he had a chance to run for a second term.
Lyndon B. Johnson
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Johnson was vice president at the time of Kennedy’s death, and he swiftly ran for his first full term in 1964, winning a landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater. However, the Democrat’s popularity slipped badly over the Vietnam War and domestic turmoil.
It became clear that Johnson was at risk of losing his party’s nomination in 1968 after Eugene McCarthy’s strong showing in the New Hampshire primary. Soon after, Johnson shocked the country by announcing on March 31, 1968, that he would not seek a second term. His approval rating was only 36% that month.
Richard Nixon
RICHARD NIXON
Nixon had an approval rating of 50% when he announced his reelection campaign on Jan. 7, 1972. The Watergate break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters occurred that summer, but the scandal didn’t gain enough momentum to drag him down.
Nixon, a Republican, defeated George McGovern, a Democrat, in a landslide. However, he would not finish his second term, resigning in 1974 after revelations about Watergate caught up with him.
Gerald Ford
GERALD FORD
Ford, a Republican, became president when Nixon stepped down, and he announced that he would run for a full term of his own on July 8, 1975. He had a 52% approval rating the month before.
He faced discontent over inflation and controversy from his decision to pardon Nixon, and he lost the election to Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.
Jimmy Carter
JIMMY CARTER
Carter announced his reelection campaign on Dec. 4, 1979. His approval rating had just hit 51%. However, the American people had grown weary of inflation, an energy crisis and a hostage crisis in Iran. Carter was wounded by a primary challenge from Sen. Ted Kennedy, and he was ultimately defeated by Ronald Reagan, a Republican.
Ronald Reagan
RONALD REAGAN
Reagan announced his reelection bid on Jan. 29, 1984. His approval rating was 52% that month. Despite concerns about his age — he was 73 and the oldest president in history at the time — Reagan handily defeated Walter Mondale, a Democrat.
George H.W. Bush
GEORGE H.W. BUSH
Bush’s popularity skyrocketed after the Gulf War, when U.S. forces pushed Iraq out of Kuwait. However, his approval rating had subsided to 65% by the time he announced his reelection campaign on Oct. 11, 1991.
Pat Buchanan challenged Bush in the Republican primary. Although Bush won the nomination, his shot at a second term dimmed amid an economic downturn. He ultimately lost to Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
Bill Clinton
BILL CLINTON
Clinton’s approval rating was 47% when he announced that he would run for reelection on April 14, 1995. Democrats had suffered a wipeout midterm election in 1994, leading some to question whether Clinton would be a one-term president. But he rebounded with the help of a growing economy, and he defeated Bob Dole, a Republican.
George W. Bush
GEORGE W. BUSH
The Sept. 11 attacks of 2001 led Bush, a Republican, to invade Afghanistan, followed by another war in Iraq. One month after U.S. forces entered Baghdad, Bush announced he would run for reelection on May 16, 2003. His approval rating was 69% that month. He defeated John Kerry, a Democrat.
Barack Obama
BARACK OBAMA
Obama, a Democrat, had a 48% approval rating when he announced his reelection campaign on April 4, 2011. He struggled to convince Americans that the economy was improving after the financial collapse and subsequent recession, but he ultimately defeated Mitt Romney, a Republican.
Donald Trump
DONALD TRUMP
Trump, a Republican, announced that he would run for reelection on June 18, 2019. The previous month, his approval rating was 41%. He was impeached for the first time at the end of the year, and then the coronavirus pandemic stalled the economy. Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeated Trump, who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Joe Biden
JOE BIDEN
Biden announced his reelection campaign on April 25. His approval rating was 40% the previous month. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term, leading to fears that he’s too old to keep such a demanding job.
However, Biden has not drawn any significant primary challengers. The only Democrats running are Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Meanwhile, Trump is leading in Republican primary polls as he seeks the party’s nomination, raising the potential for a rematch with Biden.
How do these 7 values make America distinct? | The Ethical Life podcast
‘);
var s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.setAttribute(‘src’, ‘https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js’);
document.body.appendChild(s);
window.removeEventListener(‘scroll’, throttledRevContent);
__tnt.log(‘Load Rev Content’);
}
}
}, 100);
window.addEventListener(‘scroll’, throttledRevContent);