President Joe Biden’s Approval Rating Dips To 50%, Lowest Since Taking Office

President Joe Biden’s approval rating has dipped six percentage points to 50%, his lowest mark since taking office in January, according to the latest Gallup poll.

Biden’s reduced rating comes as the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant spreads and increases cases among unvaccinated Americans, and amid continued polarization, according to Gallup. For the first time, support for Biden among independents dipped below a majority to 48%, and Democratic support at 90% marks a new low as well. Biden’s overall performance during his term’s first second quarter — an average of 53% — is still better than former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton during the same time period, with Gallup noting economic gains including lower unemployment and an infrastructure deal pushing through the Senate on Biden’s watch.

Forty-five percent disapprove of the Democrat’s performance and 5% told Gallup they had no opinion. Only 12% of Republicans support Biden’s work thus far, the poll showed. But Biden still enjoys more support from independents than Trump ever received in Gallup’s poll.

Gallup reported that the roughly three-percentage-point dip in Biden’s average approval rating over the first and second quarters is on par with dips seen for Trump and former President George W. Bush.

Historically, Gallup shows third-quarter ratings dropping even further; even former President Barack Obama, who enjoyed a 62% approval rating at this point, saw a 10-point drop after unemployment paired with legislative battles over the Affordable Care Act.

Gallup surveyed more than 1,000 adults across the country between July 6-21. The margin of error is plus-or-minus four percentage points, Gallup said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Sunday that the U.S. is “going in the wrong direction” when it comes to COVID-19. The nation’s daily death toll may increase beyond 850 — which is more than triple the current average — unless more people get vaccinated, “particularly when you have a variant like Delta, which has this extraordinary characteristic of being able to spread very efficiently and very easily from person-to-person,” Fauci warned.

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