President Joe Biden ran in 2020 as the anti-Donald Trump. Biden claimed he was honest, experienced, and, most importantly, competent.
However, just a couple of months into the Biden presidency, the nation knows now what most everyone in Washington has known for a long time: the president is the exact opposite of the qualities he claimed to possess.
He may have fooled voters during the election with what political insiders knew were absolute falsehoods. But now that Biden is president, and now that he has to do more than deliver the occasional speech from his basement, it appears the game is over. You can fool the people for only so long.
The president’s national approval rating is now just 38%, according to a new Quinnipiac survey. For reference, this is exactly where former President Donald Trump’s ratings stood in October 2017 — and Trump didn’t have the benefit of a compliant and admiring media to boost his administration’s image.
The Quinnipiac survey, which polled some 1,326 U.S. adults between October 1st and 4th, has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.
Biden’s approval among independents is just 32%, with a whopping 60% disapproving of his handling of the presidency, according to the survey. Meanwhile, only 4% of Republican respondents say they approve of Biden, while a much, much larger 94% say they disapprove. The president is underwater with Hispanics. He’s also underwater with women.
If it’s any consolation for Biden, Quinnipiac found he polls at 66% among African Americans. It also found that 88% of Democratic respondents say they approve of his management of the presidency, while a much smaller 10% said they disapprove.
However, for Biden, these are the survey’s only bright spots. The rest is bad news for him and whatever hopes he has for reelection.
Fifty-six percent of respondents said Biden does not have “good leadership skills.” Fifty-four percent said he is incompetent. Fifty percent, meanwhile, said Biden is dishonest.
There’s more.
Fifty percent of respondents disapprove of the president’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-eight percent disapprove of the Biden White House’s approach to foreign policy. Fifty-eight percent disapprove of the way he is managing the military. Fifty-four percent disapprove of Biden on taxes. Fifty-five percent disapprove of his management of the economy. Lastly, 67% disapprove of Biden’s handling of immigration. Biden’s polling on immigration is even more startling when you dig down and discover that a full 69% of self-identified Hispanic respondents disapprove. Apparently, using the term “Latinx” hasn’t endeared the president to this increasingly important voting bloc.
In nearly every category, Biden performed poorly. There is not a single issue on which voters see him as competent, trustworthy, or on the right track.
It would be unwise for Biden and his supporters to dismiss the survey as just one poll. The RealClearPolitics polling average also shows the president’s overall approval rating is just 44.6%, the lowest of his presidency. Put bluntly, the president has a real problem on his hands, and it appears to be: him. It seems the more the public has gotten to know Biden as president, the less it likes him.
Now that Biden’s anti-Trump gimmick has collapsed and the public sees him as every bit incompetent and untrustworthy as his predecessor, what do you suppose the president’s reelection campaign message will be in 2024?
