Topline
President Joe Biden’s approval rating dropped to a seven-month low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, as 2024 presidential polls show Biden locked in a dead heat against former President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating fell to 39%, its lowest point since April.
Key Facts
The poll, which was conducted on Friday and Saturday and surveyed more than 1,000 adults, found only 39% of respondents approved of Biden’s job as president, a drop of one percentage point from October and three points from September.
That matches Biden’s 39% approval rating in an April poll by Reuters/Ipsos, (FiveThirtyEight’s weighted average puts Biden’s approval rating slightly lower, at 38.7%).
Biden, who announced his reelection bid earlier this year, has faced criticism in recent months over his handling of the economy and foreign policy, while several politicians have questioned whether the 80-year-old is too old to be president—though Trump is not far behind, at 77.
The share of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll who cited “war and foreign conflicts” as their top concern rose from 4% in October to 8% in November, while 20% said the economy was their biggest concern.
A separate Yahoo Finance/Ipsos poll released Tuesday found the majority of U.S. adults have doubts about the state of the economy, with 88% saying inflation is unusually high.
A New York Times/Siena College poll found Trump leads Biden in five of six battleground states and Biden only has the lead in Wisconsin, with respondents saying they trust Trump over Biden on the economy, immigration and foreign policy.
Big Number
28. That’s how many consecutive months Biden’s approval rating has remained below 50%, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, though his 39% rating is not his lowest mark since entering the White House. Last June and July, Biden scored a dismal 36% approval rating.
Surprising Fact
At 80, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history, and if re-elected, would be 82 by the time of his second inaugural address and 86 by the end of his second four-year term.
Key Background
While several Democrats—including Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Young Turks host Cenk Uygur and self-help author Marianne Williamson—have tossed their hat in the ring, the 2024 election is widely expected to feature a rematch of the 2020 election between Biden and Trump. On the Republican side, Trump holds a commanding lead over a handful of GOP challengers. Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, as well a handful of GOP longshots, have dropped out of the race in recent weeks, failing to garner enough support to pose a challenge to Trump, even as Trump faces mounting legal trouble, including four indictments since his 2024 campaign launch. The former president has also shied away from GOP primary debates, instead holding a series of campaign stops, and even snubbed an August debate in favor of a competing sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Further Reading
Biden Trails Trump In 5 Battleground States—But Odds Are Much Better For Another Democrat, Poll Says (Forbes)
