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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s popularity has plummeted after a series of challenges in recent weeks at home and abroad for the leader who has pledged to bring the country together and restore the skills of the government., according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Fifty percent now say they approve of Biden, while 49% disapprove of him. Fifty-four percent approved in August and 59% did so in July. Results come as Americans deal with exhausting and murderous evacuation from Afghanistan, border patrol officers on horseback charging on Haitian refugees, the unshakeable threat of the coronavirus with its delta variant and the legislative drama of Biden trying to negotiate his economic, infrastructure and fiscal policies through Congress.
Since July, Biden’s approval rating has declined slightly among Democrats (from 92% to 85%) and among independents who do not favor either party (from 62% to 38%). Only 11% of Republicans approve of the president, which is similar to July.
Approval also declined somewhat among white Americans (49% to 42%) and black Americans (86% to 64%).
In follow-up interviews, some of those who had mixed feelings about Biden’s performance still viewed him as preferable to former President Donald Trump. They said Biden was facing a pandemic that started under the former president, a withdrawal from Afghanistan negotiated on behalf of Trump and an economy that has tilted in favor of corporations and the wealthy because of Trump’s tax cuts.
“Trump has a lot to do with what’s going on now,” said Acarla Strickland, 41, an Atlanta health care worker who voted for Biden but now feels lukewarm about him.
As a mother of four, Strickland said she benefited from the monthly child tax credit payments that are part of Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief program. But she thinks the government needs to do more to help Americans. Strickland said she borrowed $ 66,000 for a master’s degree and worried the debt would never be repaid.
Only 34% of Americans say the country is heading in the right direction, compared with about half who said this in the first few months of Biden’s presidency. Trump supporters such as Larry Schuth feel that Biden is harming the nation by seeking to expand the government and mismanaging the southern border. The Hilton, New York resident added that he would like to travel to Canada but cannot due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“If he had a plan to destroy this country and divide this country, I don’t know how you could better achieve it,” said Schuth, 81. “We are spending way too much money. We plan to spend more. We have no southern border.
The poll shows that 47% of Americans approve of Biden’s way of handling the economy, up from 60% in March but similar to what it was in August.
The initial surge of optimism from Biden’s bailout collided with the harsh realities of employers struggling to find workers and higher than expected inflation that supply chain issues made it more difficult to find automobiles, appliances and other property. The rise of the delta variant and the reluctance of some Americans to get vaccinated also slowed hiring in August.
Roni Klass, a 70-year-old teacher living in Miami, said she was happy to vote for Trump, but worried about inflation given her reliance on Social Security and wages that didn’t not yet increased.
“When I go to the grocery store the prices have really skyrocketed,” she said. “My money coming in doesn’t keep up with the money I have to spend to get out, and I have to cut back as much as possible.”
The poll finds that 57% approve of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. That number is similar to August, but still significantly lower than it was in July, when 66% approved. Still, this remains Biden’s biggest issue in the poll. Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic, compared with around 2 in 10 Republicans. In July, around 3 in 10 Republicans said they approved.
More as approving than disapproving of Biden’s decision to require most American workers to be vaccinated or tested regularly, 51% to 34%, with 14% saying they neither approve nor disapprove. About 8 in 10 Democrats approve; about 6 in 10 Republicans disapprove.
Biden wrestles with several foreign policy issues. Forty-three percent say they approve of his handling of foreign policy as a whole, and only 34% approve of his handling of the situation in Afghanistan. Even among Democrats, only 54% say they approve of Biden’s handling of Afghanistan. Only 10% of Republicans say the same.
At the same time, Americans are slightly more likely to approve than disapprove of the decision to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan at the end of August, with 45% saying they approve of the decision and 39% saying they disapprove. About two-thirds of Democrats approve of the decision to withdraw their troops, compared to about a quarter of Republicans. About two-thirds of Republicans disapprove.
Forty-six percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of national security, while 52% disapprove of it.
The poll was carried out just after tensions emerged with France over an agreement on submarines with Australia, but he finds that 50% approve of the way Biden handles relations with his allies – similar to his overall approval rating.
Only 35% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of immigration, up from 43% in April, when it was already one of Biden’s worst problems. Immigration is a relatively low point for Biden within his own party with 60% of Democrats saying they approve, along with 6% of Republicans.
The president is committed to humane immigration policies, but persistent border crossings and the flow of refugees from Haiti and Afghanistan have led to difficult debates and disturbing images. Immigration poses a challenge as voters are divided over whether to welcome more foreigners or to focus the government more on the needs of existing citizens.
“There is not enough money to take care of ours, why do we have to take care of another country? Said Anthony Beard, 48, a chef from Lansing, Michigan.
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,099 adults was conducted September 23-27 using a sample drawn from the AmeriSpeak probability-based NORC panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
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