President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to trend downward as more polls are showing that it has declined to the lowest levels of his presidency.
Two polls released Wednesday by CNBC and Quinnipiac showed that Biden has sunk to the lowest levels of his presidency so far, driven by concerns about rising inflation and a poor economy, as well as his weak response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The CNBC All-America Economic Survey of 800 Americans taken between April 7 and 10 found that most people did not think the American economy was doing well. A plurality of respondents, 47%, said the economy was in “poor” condition, and another 35% said it was in “only fair” condition. Just 15% said the economy was in “good” condition, and 2% said it was “excellent.” That 17% of Americans who said the economy was good or excellent was the lowest since 2014, CNBC reported. Another plurality, 43%, said the economy would get worse over the next year, while 26% of respondents said it would “stay about the same,” and 26% said that it would “get better.” A majority, 56%, believed there would be a recession in the next year, while just 29% said there would not be.
The survey also found that Biden’s approval had sunk to a new low of 38% overall, with 53% disapproval. Just 35% of voters approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, while 60% disapproved. Biden’s approval on the Ukraine crisis was slightly higher: 40% of respondents approved of his handling of the Russian invasion, while 49% disapproved.
The Quinnipiac poll of more than 1,400 adults, conducted between April 7 and 11, found similar results on Biden and Ukraine: 39% of respondents said they approved of Biden’s handling of the invasion. Overall, Biden’s general approval rating dropped to just 33%, matching his low point in Quinnipiac’s polling from January, with 54% disapproving, one point higher than in January. Biden also matched his lowest mark among registered voters, with just 35% approval, while 55% disapproved, also one point higher than January.
On the issue of the Russian invasion more broadly, the poll found that most Americans believed the U.S. should do more to help Ukrainians fighting, as well as refugees fleeing the country. More than two-thirds of respondents, 68%, said they believed the U.S. had a “moral responsibility to do more to stop the killing of civilians in Ukraine,” while 24% did not think the U.S. had such a duty. Nearly three-quarters of respondents, 74%, thought that the U.S. had a “moral responsibility to help refugees fleeing Ukraine,” while 21% did not. At the same time, a majority of respondents, 52%, said that the U.S. should only support Ukraine if it would not increase the risk of getting into a war with Russia, while 19% said the U.S. should support Ukraine even if it does risk war. Another 22% said the U.S. was doing enough to help Ukraine already.
The recent polls are just the latest to show Biden hitting new lows in his approval rating. A CBS poll released on Sunday showed that Biden had fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, 42%. An NBC News poll taken in late March showed Biden’s approval at 40%, the lowest level recorded by NBC. And a recent Reuters poll also found Biden’s approval at 40%, the lowest rating for Biden in its poll.