Biden approval rating stands at 52 percent after almost 100 days in office

Just more than half of Americans said they approve of the job President Biden is doing as he approaches his first 100 days in office, according to a new survey.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll released early Sunday found that 52 percent of Americans said that they at least somewhat approve of the actions Biden has taken so far, while 42 percent disapprove.

The Post noted that former President Trump is the only recent occupant of the Oval Office to have a lower approval rating at this point in his presidency. Trump’s job approval rating was 42 percent just before his first 100 days in office, after which his approval ratings in some polls were as low as 36 percent.

Biden’s approval rating in the Washington Post-ABC News poll is roughly consistent with two other surveys released Sunday morning. NBC News found Biden with a 53 percent approval rating, while it was 54 percent in a Fox News survey.

Biden has faced a number of challenges since he took office in January, including the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and a surge of migrants, in particular unaccompanied minors, at the southern border. The president is also getting involved in a legislative push for a major infrastructure package.

On those issues, Americans in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll said they want the president to reach out and work with Republicans rather than go it alone and pass legislation without GOP support. Sixty percent of Americans said Biden should “try to win support from Republicans,” while just 30 percent said he should “try to enact proposals without major changes.” Ten percent had no opinion.

Biden won the highest marks in the survey for the steps he has taken to fight the pandemic, while a majority of respondents disapproved of his handling of immigration at the border with Mexico.

The Washington Post-ABC poll was conducted between April 18 and April 21, with responses from 1,007 U.S. adults and a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Updated at 9:41 a.m.