President Joe Biden’s approval rating is continuing to decline.
In FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker, Biden’s approval sank below 50% this week. As of August 17, 49.8% approve of Biden while 44% disapprove.
This is Biden’s lowest rating in his eight months in office.
As FiveThirtyEight notes, “This downturn in how Americans think Biden is handling the pandemic also seems to be at least somewhat connected to the recent decline in his overall approval rating.”
Fifty-five percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to FiveThirtyEight’s coronavirus presidential approval tracker. In comparison, 37.6% disapprove. His approval of this has continuing to decline over the past month.
It’s too soon to know how Biden’s handling of Afghanistan will affect his approval rating, but approval of his handling of the pandemic, which has hovered around the low 60s for much of his presidency, has already taken a hit. https://t.co/aY2zA8K95a
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) August 16, 2021
As FiveThirtyEight also writes, “We don’t know the range in which Biden’s approval will ultimately settle, but if the past two presidents are any indication, it’ll be a narrow one: Donald Trump’s approval mostly hovered between 40 and 45 percent during his presidency, while Barack Obama’s approval tended to fall between 45 and 50 percent. In that sense, Biden’s current approval rating is perfectly normal.”
Additionally, Biden polls better on the pandemic than other issues such as crime and immigration.
FiveThirtyEight also suggests “this slip in Biden’s overall approval rating might not be a blip,” noting, “The biggest reason is that independents may be souring on Biden.”
Biden has faced criticism this week over the situation in Afghanistan. The president said he stands “squarely behind” his decision, adding, “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way, that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces.”
