President Joe Biden’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest point since taking office, dropping even lower than former president and current GOP primary frontrunner Donald Trump’s lowest approval numbers and nearing the lowest figures for an incumbent president in nearly 15 years.
JUST IN: 🚨 President Joe Biden’s approval rating drops to Record Low of 33%…
— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) January 15, 2024
An ABC News-Ipsos survey released on Sunday showed Biden’s approval rating at an abysmal 33%, while his disapproval rating sits at 58%. The poll, which surveyed 2,228 adults, was conducted between January 4-8 and shows a massive problem for the president heading into the 2024 election in less than 10 months.
Even worse for Biden, the figures are lower than the worst numbers that Trump, his chief rival, saw during his first term. In July 2017, January 2018 and August 2018, Trump hit his worst approval rating — just 36%. At this point in Trump’s presidency, he had an approval rating of 44% and a disapproval rating of 51%.
Biden’s approval rating is also the worst for a president since former President George W. Bush in 2006-2008.
Meanwhile, Biden has not had a net positive approval rating since April 2021, when he recorded an approval rating of 52%. Even in the RealClearPolitics polling average, Biden has not had a positive net approval rating since August 2021.
This new figure is also lower than Biden’s lowest approval rating as vice president in the Obama administration, which was 43% in August 2012, when he was running for re-election alongside then-President Barack Obama.
In the same poll, when respondents were asked for their opinion on how Trump did his job as president in his first term, 41% approved and 53% disapproved. These numbers, compared to Biden’s, are concerning for the president’s re-election chances — as Trump is Biden’s likely rival in the 2024 presidential election, in a rematch of the 2020 election.
Biden has faced a string of negative polls in recent months, including in several key swing states, with Trump leading Biden by several points in numerous polls. The Biden campaign and the White House have repeatedly downplayed the poor numbers, with Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler claiming that they are “not too focused on any polling at this stage in the race.”
Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler on Biden's approval rating sinking to just 33% — the lowest for any president in the last 15 years: "There's a lot of polling that's flying around" pic.twitter.com/ryrUf7uekc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 15, 2024