NewsNation poll: Biden approval drops, Russia still threat
CHICAGO (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden’s approval rating remains near record lows as the ripple effects of inflation hit home for Americans, according to the latest NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released Monday.
More than 57% of registered voters surveyed disapprove of the way he has handled the presidency, with 40% saying they “strongly disapprove,” according to the new poll, which was conducted Thursday and Friday.
Biden’s approval ratings are the lowest since NewsNation started polling voters in December. In last month’s poll, about 53% of voters disapproved of the president’s performance while more than 47% approved.
“I feel that Biden has failed us miserably,” Lynn Hoffman, of Arizona, said Sunday while visiting downtown Chicago. “I am very disappointed in (Biden) because he had been a senator for many, many, many years. He has a wealth of knowledge. But he’s not capable of using that wealth of knowledge in the office of the president of the United States.”
Hoffman’s intensity of frustration is representative of the NewsNation poll, in which 47% of voters 55 and older strongly disapprove of Biden’s performance — the lowest score of any age group.
The president’s approval rating in NewsNation’s poll is in line with other recent polling. A Rasmussen Reports poll last week had the president’s disapproval rating at 58%, while a poll by CBS News put the disapproval rating at 56%.
Other notable results of NewsNation’s latest poll include:
- About 43% of voters said Russia remains the biggest threat to the United States today, down from almost 51% last month.
- Inflation is the No. 1 concern for Americans (64.6%), compared to crime (14.7%), COVID-19 (14.3%) and unemployment (6.4%). In last month’s poll, 52.5% of Americans said inflation was their No. 1 concern. This is also the lowest percentage for COVID-19 concerns this year.
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans think abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the poll, and 56% state that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned.
The results of Biden’s approval rating mean the economy is more important than any other issue, said Scott Tranter, adviser for Decision Desk HQ. Higher interest rates and inflation are hitting more Americans’ bottom lines now than in the past, he said.
Sunday afternoon in Chicago, some voters did prioritize other issues. Tanya Landau, a graduate student whose father is Ukrainian, said she appreciates that Biden is supporting Ukraine and that that support is of “the utmost importance, especially to me.”
“With how tumultuous the last two years have, it’s not a surprise to me that there’s so much that’s out of balance,” she said.
“You have to pick your battles,” Landau said. “If I have to pay more for groceries right now, then that’s what I’m going to do. And I hope that things will stabilize.”