AP poll finds Biden has 61% approval rating

President Biden’s handling of the pandemic and coronavirus economy has helped fuel a 61% job approval rate as he enters his third month in office, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research published Wednesday.

The study found an overwhelmingly positive job approval rate among Democrats – 96% – despite just 22% of Republicans saying they approve of the job he does.

Biden’s overall approval of 6 in 10 Americans is well above the scores measured for his predecessor, the former President TrumpDonald Trump The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden Seeks Expanded Government, Tax Hikes Voter limits in Georgia take root amid weakening Justice Department battle raging over vaccine passports MORE, at the same time in 2017.

The news service noted that Trump did not once achieve more than 50% of his overall approval rating in any AP-NORC poll during his presidency.

Wednesday’s study found that COVID-19 remains the main problem for Americans after more than a year of the pandemic, with 73% of respondents approving Biden’s treatment of COVID-19, including unusually high support among Republicans polled, with about half approving.

The survey, conducted March 26-29, found increased support for Biden on the economy just weeks after his massive $ 1.9 trillion relief bill was passed, which included payments additional stimulus to Americans, unemployment aid, and funding to help state and local governments. in the distribution of vaccines.

The AP-NORC poll found that about 66% of American adults polled now support Biden’s management of the economy, up from 55% in February.

The study comes as the country experiences a fourth wave of the pandemic, with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing a 65,000 new cases daily on average during the past week. This is an increase of about 10,000 cases per day from two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration continued to tout its efforts to speed up vaccine distribution across the country. As of Wednesday, nearly 38% of American adults had received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with around 21% fully vaccinated, According to the CDC.

Despite Biden’s high marks on the pandemic and economic policy, Americans are more sharply divided when it comes to his handling of gun and immigration policy.

Wednesday’s AP-NORC poll found 45% support Biden on gun policy, compared to 52% who are against his approach.

Following this month’s deadly mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo., Biden suggested considering management actions on gun reform, and also urged Congress to re-authorize the federal assault gun ban and to adopt more stringent background check requirements for gun purchases.

On immigration, around 42% approve of Biden’s performance, while 44% have a negative view of the president’s handling of migrants and border security.

In recent weeks, Biden has faced mounting bipartisan pressure to deal with the surge in migrants on the US-Mexico border, including large numbers of unaccompanied minors.

Wednesday poll, which polled 1,166 American adults reported a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.