Biden’s approval rating drops to new low: Poll

Only one-third of U.S. adults say they approve of President Biden’s job performance — a record low for his presidency and for any president in the last 15 years.

In an ABC News/Ipsos poll, conducted Jan. 4-8, only 33 percent of those surveyed said they approved of Biden, a drop from the previous poll in September 2023, when 37 percent approved of his performance. Biden’s disapproval rating is 58 percent, up from 56 percent in September.

ABC News said it’s the lowest approval rating since former President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2008.

Biden, who is running for reelection, has a lower approval rating than former President Trump, who is the leading GOP nominee for president.

Asked when “looking back” whether they approve or disapprove of the way Trump handled his job when he was president, 41 percent of respondents said they approve, down from 48 percent in September. Trump’s disapproval rating is 53 percent, up from 49 percent in September.

Biden led Trump by 15 points when respondents were asked respectively whether Trump and Biden were “honest and trustworthy”: 41 percent said that description applies to Biden — unchanged from the previous poll in May 2023 — and 26 percent said that description applies to Trump, down from 33 percent in May 2023.

Trump led Biden when asked whether the candidates had the mental sharpness to serve effectively and whether they were in good enough physical health to serve effectively — but both saw their numbers dip, when compared with last May.

For Biden, 28 percent of respondents say he has adequate mental sharpness, down from 32 percent last year, while 28 percent say he’s in good enough physical health, down from 33 percent last year. For Trump, 47 percent say he has adequate mental sharpness, a drop from 54 percent last May, but still significantly better than Biden’s polling; 57 percent say he has good enough physical health, down from 64 percent last May.

One sliver of good news for Biden’s campaign could come from the decrease in his disapproval rating for his handling of the economy. His approval on the economy is 31 percent, up from 30 percent in September, but his disapproval rating dropped by 8 points. It’s now 56 percent, compared with 64 percent in September.

More Americans seem unsure whether they approve of Biden’s handling of the economy. In several polls conducted over a two-year period, from September 2021 to September 2023, only 4-6 percent ever skipped or said “no opinion” in response to economic approval. In January 2024, that number more than doubled to 14 percent.

In the past, however, Biden’s campaign has warned not to focus too much on polls, noting it’s still very early in the election season.

The poll surveyed 2,228 adults and had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.