Roughly 4 in 10 say state of union is strong ahead of Biden address: survey

Around 4 in 10 Americans in a new poll feel the state of the U.S. union is strong ahead of President Biden’s annual address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. 

A Monmouth University poll found just 39 percent of Americans think the union is strong, down from 46 percent who said the same in March of last year. Of this year’s 39 percent, just 7 percent think the union is “very strong,” while the rest say it’s “somewhat strong.”

Democrats view the union under Biden more positively than Republicans, who felt more favorably when former President Trump held the Oval Office. But even Democrats’ sentiments about the state of affairs have fallen over the past year, from 68 percent who were optimistic last year to 58 percent this year.

“Fundamental faith in the American system continues to erode, even when taking into account the fact that partisan views shift depending on who occupies the White House,” said Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray in an accompanying report.

The survey comes just one day before Biden is set to give his State of the Union address, in which he’ll likely laud the accomplishments of his administration and party and outline goals for the upcoming year. 

It’ll be the first time Biden addresses the new GOP-majority House, which has already launched a number of probes into the president, his administration and his family business dealings. 

The address also comes as lawmakers debate what to do about the national debt, with a potential default looming in June.

The Monmouth University poll surveyed 805 U.S. adults from Jan. 26-30 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points.