OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Another new survey has delivered more bad news for President Joe Biden and, perhaps, Democrats in general if down-ballot races are affected by the party’s current standard-bearer.
The NBC News survey, released on Sunday at the tail end of a gaffe-filled European trip that involved Biden visiting NATO to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion last month, found that the president’s approval had slipped to 40 percent, its lowest for that particular outlet since his inauguration.
In addition, the poll found an astounding 70 percent of Americans having little-to-no faith in Biden’s ability to deal with that conflict.
The Daily Mail continued:
Just 40 percent of respondents to NBC’s new poll say they approve of the president’s White House tenure, the lowest recorded by the outlet’s surveys so far. It fell three points from January.
What could be concerning for Biden’s re-election chances is a decline in approval among female voters, black voters and Independents — demographics who were all key to his 2020 victory.
His disapproval rating also hit a new high of 55 percent.
The poll was taken March 18 to 22, just before the president set off on a trip to Europe for an extraordinary meeting of NATO allies to discuss Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
In addition, the survey asked respondents about “how much confidence” they had in Biden’s ability to deal with the Russian invasion. The lion’s share, or 44 percent, said they had “very little” faith in Biden, while only 27 percent said that had “just some” confidence, for a combination of 71 percent.
“Only 28 percent of Americans polled said they share ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a bit’ of support for Biden’s handling of Ukraine — a far cry from the confidence the president has sought to project through decades of foreign policy experience in the Senate,” The Daily Mail reported — though observers in the past, including former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have said that Biden has been “wrong” on nearly every major foreign policy issue during his Senate career.
In an October 2021 interview with Anderson Cooper, Gates, who served as defense secretary under President Obama, doubled down on an earlier claim that Biden’s foreign policy chops are nonexistent.
Fox News added:
Gates, who spent about three decades in the CIA, was introspective during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” and was asked by Anderson Cooper, the correspondent, about his 2014 memoir titled, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.”
Cooper pointed out a part in the book where Gates called Biden a man of integrity but wrote that he believes he’s “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
Former Obama Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Joe Biden "has gotten a lot wrong" on foreign policy. pic.twitter.com/sYQBjC9Xwp
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 18, 2021
As for the NBC survey, a majority of respondents indicated that Biden’s actions so far have put the U.S. on a dangerous path toward direct conflict with Russia, despite the administration’s stated policy of preferring de-escalation via diplomacy.
The survey found that 16 percent of Americans said they believe the country is already at war with Russia based on the Biden administration’s handling of the situation. And 44 percent said they see the U.S. at war with Russia “within the next year.”
Meanwhile, only 34 percent believe the U.S. and Russia will avoid direct conflict.
While Biden and his administration have repeatedly said there will be no American boots on the ground in Ukraine, nearly three-quarters of respondents — 74 percent — don’t buy that. And more than eight-in-ten said they believe such a war would go nuclear.
Also, most respondents do not believe the Biden administration’s claims that Russia is responsible for much of the inflation in America.
Biden is continuing to lose ground with women as well, with his approval among that demographic falling from 51 percent in January to 44 percent now. Support among independents tanked 4 points to 32 percent, while support among blacks fell from 64 to 62 percent. During the same timeframe, support among Latinos fell from 48 percent in January to 39 percent now.
