On Sunday, NBC News released a poll showing that President Joe Biden’s approval rating amongst the American people has reached the lowest point of his presidency thus far as a mere 40% of those polled approve of the job he is doing. A whopping 71% of Americans also believe that the country is on the “wrong track.”
The poll was conducted by Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinions Strategy and Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates. The poll surveyed 1,000 adults, 790 of whom were registered voters, over four days last week. It has a margin of error of 3.1% among all respondents.
“What this poll says is that President Biden and Democrats are headed for a catastrophic election,” McInturff told NBC.
According to Real Clear Politics polling average data, Biden has an average 41.1% approval rating as well as a 53.2% disapproval rating.
NBC News also reported that Horwitt observed that while there may be some positives in the poll for Biden and the Democrats, the war in Ukraine has not done much to bolster support for the president as one might have expected:
The survey does have some silver linings for Biden and Democrats, including an increase in those who said they approve of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, nearly 80 percent of Americans said they agree with Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil imports, even if it means higher gas prices.
But what stands out in the poll is that the public hasn’t yet rallied around Biden as a result of the war in Ukraine, said Horwitt, the Democratic pollster.
“One thing that has not happened — at least yet — is a rally-around-the-flag reaction with Joe Biden’s job rating increasing. The potential for that to occur could still happen if America becomes more directly involved, but at this stage it is not there.”
McInturff also added that the poor polling numbers reflect that Biden is losing favor amongst his base:
The erosion in Biden’s approval rating has been across the board among key demographic groups, including Black respondents (from 64 percent approve in January to 62 percent now), women (from 51 percent approve to 44 percent), Latinos (from 48 percent to 39 percent) and independents (36 percent to 32 percent).
“You cannot get down to the low 40s in presidential approval unless you have strained your own base,” said McInturff, the GOP pollster.
Other polls around the country reflect Biden’s poor job performance, too.
The Washington Free Beacon also recently reported that Biden is hurting in states like solidly-Democratic California:
According to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Thursday, just 46 percent of likely California voters approve of Biden, while 51 percent disapprove. Those numbers mark a 19-point skid in just one year—a 2021 poll from the same group showed Biden with the support of 65 percent of likely voters in the Golden State. Biden won the support of roughly 60 percent of California voters in 2020.
The NBC poll was taken prior to Biden’s European trip.