When it comes to criticism of President Biden, his detractors are most concerned over his handling of immigration, according to poll results released Wednesday.
The Gallup survey found nearly 20 percent of those who said they disapproved of Biden’s job performance in a previous poll blamed their criticism on “illegal immigration/open borders.”
In that survey, conducted Jan. 2-22, Biden’s average job approval rating 39.8 percent, the lowest of any U.S. president since President Carter. About 54 percent disapproved.
With immigration as the top concern, 9 percent of his critics blamed Biden’s handling of the economy for their disapproval, while another 5 percent chose inflation. His work on foreign affairs came close behind at 4 percent, with 3 percent pointing specifically to the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Biden administration’s handling of immigration has been at the forefront of focus on Capitol Hill following last week’s dramatic collapse of a bipartisan border security package, which included significant concessions from Democrats on the issue.
The package was the result of months of negotiations between both sides of the aisle after Senate Republicans insisted any further funding for Ukraine be linked with stricter border security measures. Former President Trump and his allies in the House and Senate have opposed giving more money for Ukraine, demanding action at the U.S. southern border first.
Biden and his Cabinet have faced increased pressure in recent months to take greater action at the border to curb the increase of illegal migration. He has used increasingly hawkish rhetoric when discussing the border and last month floated twice “shutting down” the border if the Senate’s now-collapsed package gave him the power.
The House GOP’s concerns over the issue came to a head Tuesday with the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over allegations he was negligent in detaining record numbers of migrants crossing the border and preventing the movement of drugs such as fentanyl from entering the U.S.
Nearly a quarter of Biden’s critics also pointed to a personal trait, the analysis stated. About 5 percent described him as “incompetent,” 4 percent said he is in poor health or mentally unfit and another 4 percent said he is too old to hold office. Other respondents argued that the president is “out of touch,” a “puppet,” wishy-washy or corrupt, analysts noted.
The poll was taken prior to last week’s release of a report on Biden’s handling of classified documents, in which special counsel Robert Hur raised concerns over the president’s age and mental acuity.
The report cleared Biden of wrongdoing and declined criminal charges on the matter, but that was largely overlooked by Hur’s description of the president, who he said was a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president in history; if reelected in November, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
Biden has fended off concerns about his age and mental fitness since early into his White House term and last week maintained his “memory’s fine” during a contentious press conference just hours after Hur released his report.
Gallup analysts noted, however, that Biden’s competence, mental fitness and age were mentioned far less than the top issues of immigration, economy and inflation, with 13 percent of his detractors mentioning their concerns.
The January poll, which Gallup’s follow-up report was based on, featured responses from 1,011 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.