Biden’s Approval Rating Ticks Up in Latest Gallup Poll

President Biden’s approval ratings are on an upward trajectory corresponded with apparently waning inflation, favorable jobs reports, and a debt ceiling deal.

Nathan Howard/Getty Images
President Biden at a union training facility on April 19, 2023 at Accokeek, Maryland. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

In the latest Gallup survey, President Biden’s approval rating accelerated its upward trajectory, reaching its highest point since August of last year.

Mr. Biden’s approval rating is recovering after hitting its lowest point in April 2023, when it reached an abysmal 37 percent. In Gallup’s June survey, his approval rating is up to 43 percent. In May, Mr. Biden enjoyed 39 percent approval.

“In the wake of a tense negotiation with congressional Republicans to raise the country’s debt limit and avoid fiscal default, Biden has recorded his highest approval rating since last August thanks to independents,” Gallup reported.

Mr. Biden’s approval rating has been under water since summer 2021. In July of that year, Mr. Biden’s approval rating was 50 percent and by August it slipped to 49 percent. In Gallup’s September 2021 survey, it plummeted to 43 percent.

The initial drop corresponded with rising inflation — inflation hit just over 5 percent in August 2021 — as well as the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was widely seen as embarrassing due to the speed with which the Taliban seized control of the country and American military equipment.

Since then, Mr. Biden’s presidency has been dogged by inflation, which now appears to be on a downward trajectory. Annualized inflation hit 4 percent in May 2023, down from 4.9 percent in April.

Driving Mr. Biden’s polling recovery is his approval rating among independents, a key political demographic in his 2020 win that is expected to play a key role in the 2024 election. Mr. Biden’s approval rating among independents recovered to 41 percent in June from 31 percent in April, showing the most dramatic improvement of any category.

During the same time period, Mr. Biden’s approval among Republicans improved to 6 percent from 3 percent. Among Democrats, his approval has been stagnant, dropping slightly to 82 percent from 83 percent a month earlier.

Mr. Biden’s relatively low approval rating among Democrats is likely due to concerns about his age and fitness for office. A recent NBC poll found that 68 percent of voters have concerns about Mr. Biden’s health, though that data was not broken down by partisan affiliation.

Senator Klobuchar addressed the issue in an interview with NBC Sunday. When asked about whether she had concerns about Mr. Biden’s health, she said, “No, I don’t.”

“Our party is united around him. Why? Because we work in a results-oriented business and he has gotten results,” Ms. Klobuchar said.

For comparison, FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls show that Mr. Biden currently enjoys a 41.6 percent approval rating, compared to a 53.2 percent disapproval rating. The polling average also shows Mr. Biden’s approval on an upward trajectory in recent months.

Alongside some relief from inflation, Mr. Biden’s improved polling numbers correspond with the approval of a bipartisan measure to raise the debt ceiling, some favorable jobs reports, and a sharp decline in encounters with migrants at the southern border.

Mr. Biden’s approval rating is within one point of where Mr. Trump’s was at this point in his presidency. Mr. Trump enjoyed a 42.3 percent approval rating, according to FiveThirtyEight’s data. President Obama enjoyed a 46.5 percent approval rating at the same point in his presidency.

At this point in President George W. Bush’s presidency, he enjoyed a 62.3 approval rating, per FiveThirtyEight’s data. President Clinton was also more popular, with a 46.3 percent approval rating at the same point in his term.


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