A new poll shows that Americans’ disapproval of President Joe Biden is steadily increasing across various issues he has continually handled poorly.
Politico conducted polls roughly one month apart that showed Biden’s favorability in multiple categories dealing with some form of security saw at least a four-point swing in disapproval.
The first poll was conducted from July 16-18 while the latest poll was conducted from August 28-30. Both polls used a sample of 1,997 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
When respondents were asked in July whether they approved or disapproved of how Biden was handling the economy, 47 percent of registered voters approved and 45 percent disapproved. In August, approval dropped three points to 44 percent, while disapproval rose five points to 49 percent.
On immigration, the president’s approval rating shifted from 39 percent to 36 percent, while his disapproval rating went from 50 percent to 55 percent.
The largest swing in opinion, however, dealt with foreign policy and national security.
During the July polling, Biden had not yet botched our troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban had not taken over the country. It makes sense that the events surrounding Afghanistan in the past few weeks have weighed heavily on the minds of Americans and caused the swing in approval of the president’s abilities in multiple arenas.
When those polled were asked in July if they approved or disapproved of how President Biden was handling national security, 45 percent of registered voters approved and 43 percent disapproved. In the latest poll, 41 percent approved while 50 percent disapproved, showing a 7-point swing in disapproval in just a little over a month.
On the topic of foreign policy, disapproval jumped eight percentage points. Forty-three percent of registered voters polled approved of the president’s handling of foreign policy in July, while only 37 percent approved at the end of August.
While 43 percent of registered voters disapproved of Biden’s handling of national security in July, that number jumped to 50 percent at the end of August.
The specific topic of Afghanistan was not considered in the July poll, but it was included in the poll from August. On this topic, Biden’s ratings were particularly low.
In August, just 30 percent of registered voters approved of the president’s handling of Afghanistan, while 61 percent disapproved.
The polling also reflected what many lawmakers and pundits — particularly conservatives — have already spoken out about in condemning the Biden administration. While voters agreed with removing our troops from Afghanistan, they greatly opposed and disliked the manner in which it was executed.
When asked in August about Biden’s decision to start the withdrawal of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan on May 1 and promising to have all troops home by Sept. 11, voters sided with the president. Fifty percent supported the decision, while 41 percent disapproved.
However, when voters were asked how well they thought the withdrawal was going, the numbers were much different.
Just seven percent of voters thought the withdrawal was going “very well,” while 15 percent believed it was going “somewhat well.” Twenty-three percent thought it was not going “too well,” and a whopping 49 percent said it was not going well at all.
There was also an overall shift in voters’ perspectives on whether the country was on the right track as well as a change in the president’s overall approval rating.
When asked if the country was heading in the right direction, the numbers shifted from 46 percent to 39 percent of voters saying it was and from 54 percent to 61 percent of voters saying the U.S. was headed in the wrong direction.
Likewise, when registered voters were asked if they approved or disapproved of the job Biden was doing as president, in July, 52 percent approved and 44 percent disapproved. At the end of August, 47 percent approved, while 49 percent disapproved.
As the two Politico polls show, Biden’s disapproval numbers are continuing to climb and it is certainly being influenced by warranted fears regarding the administration’s ability to keep its citizens and allies safe and secure.
When the statistics regarding these topics are broken down, the revelations are quite damning. It is undeniable that Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal is unpopular with the American people — even with those within his administration and the Democratic Party.
Afghanistan has clearly had a major impact on how people are analyzing Biden’s performance as president. Despite the president’s assertion that the withdrawal was an “extraordinary success,” people are questioning whether he is capable of ensuring the safety of the American citizens he is in charge of protecting.
Whether it is his decision to deposit illegal immigrants across the U.S. amid the ongoing fight with COVID-19 or his failure to remove all American citizens and allies prior to evacuating Afghanistan, Americans are losing faith that the president cares about them.
It is unclear whether this will be a deciding factor in how people vote for president in 2024 — though it certainly should be. Even so, the Afghanistan debacle and the ruling Democratic Party’s handling of this undeniable fiasco seems like it has the potential to be lingering in American voters’ minds when the midterm elections roll around in 2022.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
