Biden polls lower than any president in over 40 years with two-thirds of Americans saying economy getting worse
President Biden will be ready to ring in the new year after seeing these numbers.
The 81-year-old commander-in-chief ends 2023 with a lower approval rating than any of his seven predecessors at a similar point in their first term, according to a new Gallup poll.
Biden, the oldest-over president, will head into 2024 with just 39% of Americans liking his job performance — a slight increase from the 37% he received in October and November, but still below the ratings of every chief executive at the end of their third year in office since Jimmy Carter was in the White House.
Former President George W. Bush had the highest near-midterm approval rating, with 58% of Americans approving of his job performance in December 2003 following the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Carter and Ronald Reagan each had 54% approval ratings in December 1979 and 1983, respectively — though only Reagan secured re-election the following year as Carter’s administration was shattered by ongoing economic problems and the Iran hostage crisis.
George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton each recorded a 51% approval rating in the Gallup surveys for December 1991 and 1995, respectively — though again, only Clinton was able to win a second term.
More recently, former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama scored below 50% with their job approval entering their re-election years, with the former at 45% in December 2019 and the latter at 43% in December 2011.
Biden’s low numbers are fueled by four in five US adults rating the nation’s economy as fair (33%) or poor (45%). Just 3% said economic conditions were excellent and 19% said they were good.
More than two-thirds (68%) of Americans said the economy was getting worse, while just 28% said it was improving — lending credibility to other surveys that show voters are rejecting “Bidenomics,” the president’s moniker for his financial policy.
The White House made the case before this holiday season that prices were declining across the board from the previous year, but Republicans have pointed to inflation still outpacing wages as the source of voters’ frustration.
Gallup rated Americans’ economic confidence at -32, well above the lowest point of Biden’s presidency in June 2022, when inflation was at its peak and the polling group’s Economic Confidence Index hit -58.
The index ranges from +100 for excellent and good economic ratings to -100 for fair and poor ratings.
The Gallup poll shows 26% of US adults rank either the state of the economy (14%) or inflation (12%) as the most important problem facing the country.
Another 16% of Americans said poor leadership was the biggest issue, while the same percentage said immigration was the most pressing problem.
Biden has asked Congress to pass $110 billion in additional funding as part of a national security bill to help Ukraine fight its war against Russia and Israel fight its war against Hamas, as well as provide further spending on US border enforcement.
That package has been stalled in the Senate as Republicans and Democrats negotiate changes to parole and asylum policies for illegal aliens trying to enter the country.
By party affiliation, 78% of Democrats approve of Biden — three percentage points above the lowest rating recorded for members of the president’s party in October.
But just 34% of independents and 5% of Republicans approve of Biden’s leadership, the survey shows.
The president’s approval has remained in the single digits among Republicans since the administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Among independents, Biden hit a record-low approval rating of 27% in November before bouncing back this month.
Trump, the Republican front-runner to challenge Biden in the 2024 general election, has a 39.9% favorability rating, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
However, other polls show US voters would prefer how the likely GOP presidential nominee would handle the economy, foreign conflicts and immigration.
