Biden’s favorability rating rises while Trump’s slips: Gallup

President-elect Joe Biden’s favorability ratings are up since the election while President Trump’s dipped slightly during the same period, according to new polling from Gallup.

The survey found Biden’s approval rating at 55 percent, his highest since February of last year, two months before he announced his candidacy. His rating is now 6 points higher than just before the election. 

Trump’s approval rating, meanwhile, is at 42 percent, down 3 points from before the election.

Biden’s rating is bolstered by independents and Republicans, according to the survey. Independents’ approval grew 7 points, from 48 percent to 55 percent, while Republicans’ approval of the former vice president rose from 6 percent to 12 percent. Democrats’ approval of Biden, which is in the 90s, remained largely unchanged, according to Gallup.

In recent weeks, Republicans’ approval of Trump has dropped 6 points to 89 percent.

Winning presidential candidates for the last 20 years have almost always seen a boost in approval after Election Day. The exception was in 2000, when both George W. Bush’s and Al Gore’s approval ratings remained static in the weeks until a winner was determined. On Dec. 12 of that year, when the Supreme Court’s Bush v. Gore decision clinched Bush’s victory, Bush saw a 4-point increase.

Biden’s current favorability is also in line with the historical trend of a clear majority approving of the election winner. Trump’s approval rating after the 2016 election is the only exception this century, Gallup noted.

The trend is less clear among losing presidential candidates, however. Then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) saw a 14-point increase after losing to Barack Obama in 2008, while fellow Republican nominee Mitt Romney saw a boost after his 2012 loss as well. Democrat Hillary Clinton saw no change after her 2016 loss, and polling did not measure then-Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) approval in the immediate wake of the 2004 election.

Pollsters surveyed 1,018 adults from Nov. 5 to 19 for the new poll, which has a 4-point margin of error.