Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
By AAMER MADHANI and HANNAH FINGERHUT, Associated Press
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden listens to a question during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
More Americans disapprove than approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, 56% to 43%. As of now, just 28% of Americans say they want Biden to run for reelection in 2024, including only 48% of Democrats.
Asked on Wednesday at a wide-ranging news conference about his flagging popularity, Biden responded, “I don’t believe the polls.”
It’s a stark reversal from early in Biden’s presidency.
In July, 59% of Americans said they approved of Biden’s job performance in an AP-NORC poll. His approval rating dipped to 50% by late September in the aftermath of the chaotic and bloody U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and amid surging coronavirus infections and the administration’s fitful efforts to push economic, infrastructure and tax policies through Congress.
The latest poll shows that Americans’ confidence in Biden’s handling of the pandemic — seen as a strength early in his administration — has further eroded as the omicron variant strains the health care system and further exhausts an American electorate that had hoped life would be back to a semblance of normalcy by now.
Just 45% say they approve of Biden’s handling of COVID-19, down from 57% in December and from 66% in July 2021.
Americans are even more downbeat about his handling of the economy, with just 37% approving. Growing angst about his economic policies comes as inflation rose at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month, a 7% spike from a year earlier that is increasing household expenses and eating into wage gains. Read the full story here:
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BIDEN BY THE NUMBERS
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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63.5% vaccination rate. Most Americans got jabbed. Countries with higher vaccination rates: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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63.5% vaccination rate. Most Americans got jabbed. Countries with higher vaccination rates: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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3.9% jobless rate. The low unemployment rate is a big highlight of Biden's first year. He inherited a coronavirus-thrashed economy with unemployment at 6.4%. Employers added 6.4 million jobs last year as unemployment dropped well below the 4.6% that the Congressional Budget Office had anticipated in July for the end of 2021.
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3.9% jobless rate. The low unemployment rate is a big highlight of Biden's first year. He inherited a coronavirus-thrashed economy with unemployment at 6.4%. Employers added 6.4 million jobs last year as unemployment dropped well below the 4.6% that the Congressional Budget Office had anticipated in July for the end of 2021.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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7% inflation. In running the economy hot, Biden got burned as inflation reached a nearly 40-year high. Higher prices led to disapproval of Biden's economic leadership. Gasoline and groceries cost more, and some notable economists said higher prices were a sign that Biden's relief package was too large.
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7% inflation. In running the economy hot, Biden got burned as inflation reached a nearly 40-year high. Higher prices led to disapproval of Biden's economic leadership. Gasoline and groceries cost more, and some notable economists said higher prices were a sign that Biden's relief package was too large.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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$1 trillion. The cost of Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, which includes $550 billion in new spending. To get an agreement, Biden pulled back from the $2.3 trillion he initially proposed. He separately proposed $1.8 trillion for a package of social and climate initiatives, but that was modified and unable to clear the Senate. So Biden got about one-quarter of the $4 trillion in spending he proposed.
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$1 trillion. The cost of Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, which includes $550 billion in new spending. To get an agreement, Biden pulled back from the $2.3 trillion he initially proposed. He separately proposed $1.8 trillion for a package of social and climate initiatives, but that was modified and unable to clear the Senate. So Biden got about one-quarter of the $4 trillion in spending he proposed.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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13 deaths. The number of U.S. troops who died in a suicide bombing at the gate of Kabul's airport during the U.S. evacuation of more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan. At least 169 Afghans were killed, with the evacuations leaving scores of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies behind. More than 2,460 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan over the course of the two-decade war.
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13 deaths. The number of U.S. troops who died in a suicide bombing at the gate of Kabul's airport during the U.S. evacuation of more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan. At least 169 Afghans were killed, with the evacuations leaving scores of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies behind. More than 2,460 U.S. service members died in Afghanistan over the course of the two-decade war.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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1.78 million border crossings in the Southwest. Migrants began streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border once Biden became president. There were 1.78 million encounters with border agents during his first 10 full months, a four-fold increase compared with President Donald Trump's last 10 months in office.
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1.78 million border crossings in the Southwest. Migrants began streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border once Biden became president. There were 1.78 million encounters with border agents during his first 10 full months, a four-fold increase compared with President Donald Trump's last 10 months in office.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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20 natural disasters. There were 20 extreme weather and climate disasters that each caused damages in excess of $1 billion and killed a combined 688 people. These included a drought, two floods, 11 severe storms, four tropical cyclones, a wildfire and a winter storm. Adjusted for inflation, the U.S. has averaged 7.4 disasters annually since 1980 that caused $1 billion or more in losses.
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20 natural disasters. There were 20 extreme weather and climate disasters that each caused damages in excess of $1 billion and killed a combined 688 people. These included a drought, two floods, 11 severe storms, four tropical cyclones, a wildfire and a winter storm. Adjusted for inflation, the U.S. has averaged 7.4 disasters annually since 1980 that caused $1 billion or more in losses.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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24 states. Biden visited nearly half of America's 50 states during his first year. Excluding stops at his homes in Delaware, top destinations were Pennsylvania (seven times) and Michigan (five times). Both were key states in his 2020 election victory. Jill Biden went to 35 states.
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24 states. Biden visited nearly half of America's 50 states during his first year. Excluding stops at his homes in Delaware, top destinations were Pennsylvania (seven times) and Michigan (five times). Both were key states in his 2020 election victory. Jill Biden went to 35 states.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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41 federal judges. Biden had 41 judges confirmed to the bench during his first year in office, more than any of his recent predecessors at the same time in their presidencies. Of those, 80% are women, and 53% are people of color, according to the White House.
103 days. It took an average of 103 days for Biden nominees requiring Senate confirmation to be confirmed. That’s longer than the average for nominees in the first years of the previous six administrations and nearly three times longer than during Ronald Reagan’s first year in office, according to an analysis by the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition.
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41 federal judges. Biden had 41 judges confirmed to the bench during his first year in office, more than any of his recent predecessors at the same time in their presidencies. Of those, 80% are women, and 53% are people of color, according to the White House.
103 days. It took an average of 103 days for Biden nominees requiring Senate confirmation to be confirmed. That’s longer than the average for nominees in the first years of the previous six administrations and nearly three times longer than during Ronald Reagan’s first year in office, according to an analysis by the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
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9 news conferences. There will be a 10th on Wednesday. Biden has been remarkably press shy. He held nine news conferences (six solo and three joint) and 22 media interviews during his first year. That’s fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors.
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9 news conferences. There will be a 10th on Wednesday. Biden has been remarkably press shy. He held nine news conferences (six solo and three joint) and 22 media interviews during his first year. That’s fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors.
Biden approval hits new low at one-year mark of presidency
AP file
32 “not a joke" references. It's one of Biden's favorite speech lines. Among the things he said were “not a joke”: Civil rights icons, labor unions that built the middle class, air pollution from Delaware chemical plants, climate change as a national security risk, California voters, Biden's disregard of polls on his economic agenda. Seriously.
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32 “not a joke" references. It's one of Biden's favorite speech lines. Among the things he said were “not a joke”: Civil rights icons, labor unions that built the middle class, air pollution from Delaware chemical plants, climate change as a national security risk, California voters, Biden's disregard of polls on his economic agenda. Seriously.
