Fewer Americans approve of President Obama‘s job handling foreign policy than at any previous point during his presidency, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows.
Just 38 percent of people give the president positive marks on international affairs, compared to 56 percent who disapprove, the survey shows. It is the first time Obama’s approval has slipped below the 40 percent threshold in this poll.
The new, discouraging numbers for the president come as Obama has faced international crises on multiple fronts, including the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the further invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
And not only Obama’s job approval is suffering, but his perception as a leader as well. The survey shows another new low for the president among Americans who view him as a “strong leader,” now at 43 percent. Fifty-five percent of respondents, meanwhile, said they do not view Obama as a strong leader.
That perceived weakness extends to other hot-button issues such as immigration. The poll found approval for Obama’s work on immigration also at a new low, 31 percent. Fifty-nine percent said they disapprove of the president’s handling of immigration.
The survey was conducted in large part before the White House announced, on Saturday, that the president will hold off on any executive action on immigration reform until after the midterm elections in November.
The poll, conducted by telephone from Sept. 4-7, posed questions in English and Spanish to 1,001 adults reached via both landlines and cell phones. The margin of error was 3.5 points.
