President Joe Biden’s approval numbers for his third year in office were the worst among every commander-in-chief since Jimmy Carter, according to polling data from Gallup.
Throughout his third year in office — January 20, 2023, through January 19, 2024 — Biden had an average approval rating of 39.8%. That average was the second worst among every president over the past 68 years, coming in just ahead of President Jimmy Carter’s 37.4% approval rating from 1979 to 1980, Gallup found.
The poor approval ratings for Biden heading into the 2024 election don’t bode well for his campaign. Since the Eisenhower administration, every president who has won re-election either cleared a 50% approval rating in their fourth year or came within two points of 50%. President Barack Obama, who had an average approval rating of 48.1% in his fourth year, was the only president in the past 70 years to win a second term with a sub-50% approval rating going into his re-election. Carter, whose third-year approval rating was the worst in the past 70 years, was blown out by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election, winning only 49 electoral votes to Reagan’s 489.
“Biden begins his reelection campaign with a job approval rating significantly below the 50% mark that has been associated with winning a second term,” Gallup wrote. “And while some presidents have seen sharp improvements in their fourth year and won a second term, Biden’s third-year rating was worse than any of theirs, suggesting he has a bigger hill to climb.”
As the 2024 election nears, Biden faces multiple issues from a growing conflict in the Middle East and ongoing war in Ukraine to a porous southern border and Americans frustrated with the economy and inflation. Immigration and the economy consistently top the list of issues voters are most concerned about heading into the election.
Biden’s rival former President Donald Trump has once again made addressing the border crisis a top priority for his 2024 presidential campaign. As the fight between the Biden administration and Texas over border security heated up this week, Trump called on states to send their national guards to Texas to support the state in its effort to repel illegal immigrants.
“We encourage all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border,” Trump said. “All Americans should support the commonsense measures by Texas authorities to protect the Safety, Security, and Sovereignty of Texas, and of the American people.”
Meanwhile, Biden continues to urge Congress to pass bipartisan legislation addressing the illegal immigration crisis and giving Biden more power “to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.”
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Along with underwater approval numbers, Biden also faces an electorate that is overwhelmingly pessimistic about the direction of the country. According to the Real Clear Politics average, two-thirds of voters say the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction while only 24% say the country is on the right track.