There was a time when Joe Biden’s approval numbers were at least mixed. Yeah, his overall rating would be somewhere around 45 percent, but then you’d have him sitting at around 60 percent on COVID-19. And as the media and White House assured us, at the time, that number was most important because everything else flowed from the response to the coronavirus. When COVID-19 was over, a rebound would occur, at least per their telling.
That talking point has been completely put out to pasture over the last several months, and the latest NBC News poll shows Biden competing with a swift kick in the jaw in popularity. Aside from being at 51 percent on his handling of the coronavirus (and that’s only because it’s basically a non-issue at this point), he’s underwater in every other category.
Here are the most relevant results.
Biden on the issues, per the new NBC News poll…
Covid handling
Approve: 51% (+7 from Jan 2022)
Disapprove: 46% (-7)Economic handling
Approve: 33% (-8)
Disapprove: 63% (+3)Foreign policy handling
Approve: 42% (+5)
Disapprove: 51% (-3)— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) March 27, 2022
On inflation and kitchen table issues…
Income falling behind cost of living: 62%
Staying about even: 31%
Income going up faster than cost of living: 6%— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) March 27, 2022
Who do you want to control Congress after November’s elections? (Among registered voters)
R+2
Republicans: 46% (was 46% in Jan)
Democrats: 44% (was 47% in Jan)— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) March 27, 2022
That loss of 3 percent from January is significant because you always have to compare a poll to its previous iteration. Yes, there are polls out there showing Biden at 34 percent and this poll is at 40 percent, but what matters is the trend because all polls will vary in their topline numbers. Back in January, Biden was supposed to have been at his low point. That was pre-State of the Union and prior to him “uniting the world” on Ukraine, a line the White House and its supporters keep trotting out.
Yet, here we have Biden actually dropping 3 percent in what is supposed to be (and what has been) one of the kinder polls to him. Regarding Ukraine, a majority of Americans have negative confidence in the president’s ability to handle the crisis, and given the gaffe-tastic last few days on the issue, who could blame them?
Biden does no better on the kitchen table issues like inflation, the economy, and immigration. I find the immigration number especially interesting, given there’s a tendency for partisans to compartmentalize the crisis, blaming it on factors other than current policy. Yet, a large plurality says it is Biden’s actions or lack thereof that have led to the humanitarian crisis currently occurring on the border. Unlike in past election cycles (prior to 2016), there’s no question immigration is on the minds of Americans and will play a role in how they vote.
Once again, the smart set was proven wrong. Ukraine did not unite anyone around Biden, and there is no rebound in sight. Look for things to get even worse.
Authored by Bonchie via RedState
