New poll shows Biden public approval rate still in gutters

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 May 2023 18:05

The poll results showed that about half of Democrats were approving of Biden's immigration and gun policies.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference following the Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit in Hiroshima, western Japan on May 21, 2023 (AP)

Results from a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that only 33 percent of American adults say they approve of US President Joe Biden's handling of the economy, and only 24 percent say the present state of the national economy is in good standing.

The poll of 1,680 adults was conducted May 11-15 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Regarding issues relating to gun policy and immigration, only 31 percent said they approved the President's performance in those matters and 40 percent said they approve of his overall job performance as the head of State.

24-year-old Zoie Mosqueda told the pollsters that she and her family are ready to purchase a home. But given the average mortgage interest rate levitating around 6.9 percent, their goal seems more out of reach.

She also expressed frustration over Biden's poor handling of gun policies, noting that gun violence has gone out of control in recent times.

The poll results showed that about half of Democrats were approving of Biden's immigration and gun policies.

The President is currently in Hiroshima, Japan, where he is taking part in the annual G7 summit. In the meantime, negotiations have been taking place between officials from the White House and Republicans in Congress regarding the debt ceiling and the federal budget.

"It would be a total catastrophe for the country if they don't agree to do something," Bob Vought, a retired auto parts warehouse manager in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the pollsters, adding that he strongly disapproves of Biden's handling of the economy.

Under the Biden administration, the country experienced two of the greatest Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in recent years. In 2022, payments increased by 5.9 percent, and in 2023, they increased by 8.7 percent.

Vought said that these increases are not sufficient to keep up with a rental increase at the trailer park where he and his father live as they both rely on Social Security benefits. Inflation has also made it difficult to afford basic necessities, like food.

On matters pertaining to immigration, Vaught also expressed frustration. In the year 2022 alone, immigrants were apprehended at the southern border over 2.38 million times.

During Trump's presidency, Covid restrictions under his mandate allowed border officials to turn away migrants in order to contain the spread of the virus. These restrictions, known as Title 42, had just recently come to an end on May 11.

Although Title 42 was used to deny entry to immigrants more than 2.8 million times, it carried no legal repercussions, thus encouraging immigrants to repeat their attempts at a crossing. Since May 11, border control returned to pre-pandemic laws.

Democrat John Billman told the pollsters that Biden has done considerable efforts in terms of enabling a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and $280 billion CHIPS Act. The 79-year-old from North Carolina added that the President should be credited for lowering the unemployment rate currently standing at 3.4 percent.

Reminiscing about the January 6 Capitol insurgency, Billman said "There are so many that seem incredibly angry at the government, that think the government and Biden are only doing bad things."

"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," he added.

With regards to managing the economy, 61 percent of Democrats said they approve of Biden's performance on the matter, and 75 percent approve of his job performance overall.

In comparison to Republicans, 36 percent of Democrats say the country is headed in the right direction against 7 percent of Republicans. Moreover, 41 percent of Democrats said they would rate the state of the economy as good, against 7 percent of Republicans.

Another participant in the study, Karen D’Andrea, 64, a Democrat from Port Lucie, Florida, told the pollsters that she, like millions of other Americans, had lost her job due to the pandemic.

Although she managed to get hired by a tech startup, she was recently laid off because of major changes currently taking place in the sector.

"I think people with the same mindset as me feel our best days are behind us," said D'Andrea. "Republicans like to say they want to make America great again. I think things can be wonderful now, but we got to work together."