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With the Honeymoon Phase Far Behind

Him, Biden’s Approval Hits New Low
Only Trump has had a lower job approval rating than Biden does
during similar points in their presidencies, according to a new
poll, which found that the president’s approval rating hit a new
low of 43%.

By Kaia Hubbard
Sept. 22, 2021
US President Joe Biden addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly
on September 21, 2021 in New York. - US President Joe Biden told the United
Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that America is "opening a new era of
relentless diplomacy" following the end of the war in Afghanistan.
( B R E N DA N S M I A LO W S K I / G E T T Y I M AG E S )

President Joe Biden's approval rating has hit a new low of 43%,
according to a new poll, while those who disapprove of the
president's performance now make up the majority.

[ READ: International, Domestic Crises Provide a Week of Tests

for Biden ]

The Gallup poll, conducted from Sept. 1-17, comes after Biden's
exit from Afghanistan, which Americans generally supported,
the report notes. But the "chaotic and deadly way in which it
was executed" has played a role in the decline in Biden's
approval rating. Meanwhile, the delta variant has surged
throughout the U.S., and the vaccine mandate debate has taken
on new urgency.

The survey marks the first time in the group's polling of Biden's
presidency that the president has a higher percentage of
negative views of him than positive views – in other words, the
president is "underwater."

The drop in Biden's job approval is the second significant drop

since June, according to Gallup, after the president's initial
"honeymoon" rating around 55% fell to 50% in July as COVID-19
cases began to rise. In August, Biden's rating stood at 49%.

Every president outside of Donald Trump has enjoyed a

honeymoon period, the Gallup survey says, with above-average
approval ratings near the beginning of their term. Where it
stands today, at 43% eight months into his presidency, Biden's
approval rating is comparable to Trump and Bill Clinton's at a
similar time during their respective presidencies. But Clinton's
approval rating began recovering around this time in 1993, the
survey says, making Trump the only president since World War
II with a lower job approval rating than Biden at a similar point in
their presidencies.

Approval of Biden's performance has remained high among

Democrats, at 90%, down from 98% when he took office.
Republicans' approval of Biden has also remained somewhat
stable, at 6% this month, down from 12% in February.
Independents have shown the greatest variation, according to
the survey, with approval of Biden currently standing at 37%,
down from a high of 61%, with two-thirds of the downward slide
occurring in the last three months.

Vice President Kamala Harris' approval rating is slightly higher

than Biden's, at 49%, and stands nearly identical to Biden's
approval during the same time in his vice presidential term.

[ READ: Biden Stresses Diplomacy, Shirks Trump at First U.N.

Address ]

The results come as the Biden administration faces a critical

week on the world stage, after addressing world leaders amid
upheaval about a U.S.-Australian nuclear submarine pact,
lingering disputes over the U.S.' role in the Afghanistan
withdrawal and the continued debate over the handling of the
coronavirus pandemic worldwide.

"Biden's latest approval rating further cements the fact that the
honeymoon phase of his presidency is behind him," the Gallup
report says.

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