Biden’s job approval ticks up to 44 percent: poll

Forty-four percent of voters approve of President Biden’s job performance as he faces crises on several fronts, according to a new Bipartisan Policy Center-commissioned survey from Morning Consult.

The poll marks a slight uptick from Biden’s average approval rating, which sits at just over 41 percent, according to a compilation of surveys by FiveThirtyEight.

Of registered voters surveyed, 21 percent said they “strongly approve” of the job Biden is doing, while 23 percent said they “somewhat approve.” Another 40 percent said they “strongly disapprove,” and 12 percent said they “somewhat disapprove.”

Four percent of respondents said they don’t know or had no opinion on Biden’s performance. 

When asked about the general direction of the country, however, 65 percent of voters said it is on the “wrong track,” compared to just 35 percent who said the U.S. is going in the “right direction.”

Biden is currently facing a slew of crises at home and abroad that pushed his approval rating into the low- or mid-40s. 

Record-high inflation has fueled grumblings over the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, and fights over mask and vaccine mandates are only now starting to abate after new guidance was released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on where masks should be worn indoors. 

Along with those domestic issues, Biden still faces criticism from last year’s bloody withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

The president is now working with European allies to try and blunt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing crippling sanctions on Moscow and rushing weapons to Kyiv. 

All those issues are expected to be discussed at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, which Democrats are hoping will serve as a reset and a boost to their midterm prospects. 

The party is defending razor-thin majorities in both chambers of Congress, and should Biden’s approval rating not bounce back, they run a high risk of losing control of both the House and Senate this November.

The Bipartisan Policy Center-commissioned survey from Morning Consult surveyed 2,005 registered voters from Feb. 18-20 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.