OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It has been a brutal first year in the White House for President Joe Biden, with inflation showing no signs of stopping, COVID more out of control than ever before, a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, gas prices soaring, and his agenda on voting and Build Back Better stalled in Congress.
And his year just got worse as a majority of Americans have given the president an F for his first year, Politico reported.
In the Politico/Morning Consult poll 37 percent of those who responded gave the president a grade of “F” for his first year, more than those who gave him an “a” or “B” grade combined. Only 11 percent gave him an “A” and 20 percent gave him a “B.”
He was given a “C” grade by 18 percent of those who responded and a “D” grade by another 12 percent.
Biden’s results were even a touch worse than Trump’s at the same point in their presidencies, when 35 percent of voters in 2018 gave Trump a failing mark against 34 percent A’s and B’s. Slightly more voters gave Biden the middling mark of “C” than Trump got in the comparable 2018 survey, 18 percent to 14 percent, and the pair got nearly identical percentages of “D” grades.
Only 2 percent of those surveyed did not have an opinion on Biden’s first year grade. The poll of 2,005 registered voters was conducted Jan. 15-16, with an overall margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Biden is also ending his first year in office with his lowest approval rating yet in POLITICO/Morning Consult’s weekly polling: 40 percent, compared to 56 percent disapproval. That’s worse than Trump’s 44 percent approval in early January 2018, roughly a year into his tenure.
More than 85 percent of Republican voters gave Biden either a “D” or an “F” grade, as did close to half of self-identified independents. Only 5 percent of Republican respondents gave Biden an “A” or “B,” though about a quarter of independents gave the president strong marks.
As you might imagine, Democrat respondents were more forgiving, with only 11 percent giving the president a “D” or an “F” grade.
Days ago another poll, this time by Quinnipiac, showed that President Biden had sunk to rock bottom in his approval rating.
While the survey covered a slew of topics, the first question measured President Joe Biden’s overall performance. Just 33% of respondents thought he was doing a good job, compared to 53% who did not. As usual, most Democrats went to bat for their president while most Republicans did not.
Where Biden took a significant hit was with Independents, of whom a mere 25% showed their support. While the decrease alone is bad enough, the real problem for the president – and his party – is the fact this follows a long line of plummeting poll numbers over his first year in office.
Another Biden CrisisAmerican opinions on Congress were also quite instructive given the upcoming midterm elections in November.
The poll showed 43% of participants favor Republicans retaking the House in November while 42% prefer the Democrats. When it comes to the Senate, 45% support the GOP while 41% back Democrats.
Another question asked respondents if they believe Biden “is doing a better job as president than you expected, a worse job, or about what you expected?”
A paltry 7% indicated the president is exceeding expectations, while 39% said he was doing worse than anticipated. About 50% said Biden is performing as they had predicted.
When it comes to the White House’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, about 39% approved while 55% disapproved.
