In the realm of American politics, President Joe Biden has recently found himself contending with a disconcerting challenge. The nation’s approval ratings have, this month, descended to their lowest ebb since the April of this year, as per a recent poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos. The results of this survey have given rise to palpable apprehensions concerning President Biden’s forthcoming re-election bid, scheduled for the next year.
The poll, a two-day endeavor that acquired responses via online platforms from 1,019 discerning adults, representing the entire nation, unveiled that merely 39% of the respondents expressed their approval of President Biden’s performance in the esteemed role of the President. This figure, though aligned with the approval rate documented in April, reflects a slight descent from the previous month’s percentage of 40% and September’s 42%. It is noteworthy that, despite the online nature of the survey, an approximate margin of error of three percentage points persisted.
As political dynamics would have it, President Biden is widely anticipated to enter a gripping rematch scenario with the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, who presently claims the front-runner position for the Republican Party’s nomination. Recent opinion polls have consistently insinuated the possibility of a closely contested race, rekindling memories of their 2020 electoral duel.
A rather disquieting trend in the poll data was the notable increase in respondents who ranked “war and foreign conflicts” as the predominant concern, surging from 4% in October to 8% in November. This escalation coincided with the heightening tensions in the Israel-Hamas conflict, marking the highest recorded level of anxiety on this matter since April 2022. At that time, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia had triggered 9% of respondents to voice their concerns. Meanwhile, a significant proportion, amounting to 20%, identified the state of the economy as their chief concern, with crime and the environment at 9% and 7% respectively.
The public approval rating for President Biden has continued to hover below the 50% benchmark since August of 2021. The current month’s rating closely approaches the nadir of his presidential tenure, reaching a meager 36%, which had been witnessed in the midst of 2022.
