Biden's Record-Low Approval Rating Due To Policy Or Persona? New Poll Reveals Factors And How President Compares To Trump, Obama And Bush

President Joe Biden’s poor job approval rating has more to do with his policies than his persona, the results of a Gallup poll released on Wednesday showed.

What Happened: A follow-up probe to the survey carried out between Jan. 2 and Jan. 22 soliciting views as to why they approved or disapproved of Biden brought out immigration as the most-cited factor. The main poll results found that 41% of Americans approved of his job performance, a record low for an incumbent during the third year in office. A majority of 54% disapproved of his handling of his job as president.

Those approving his job offered general positive statements such as “he’s doing a good job,” Gallup said.

Immigration, the top concern, was mentioned by 19% of the respondents. Biden’s handling of the economy and inflation were concerns for 9% and 5% of the respondents, respectively.

Only one in four of the respondents mentioned a personal trait, with 5% saying he is incompetent, 4% mentioning his poor health and lack of mental fitness, and 4% saying he was too old.

“Most respondents who disapprove of the job Biden is doing are either Republicans or political independents,” the pollster said.

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Biden Vs. Past Presidents: About half of the respondents who approve of Biden’s overall handling of his job said he was doing a good job or was doing the best under difficult circumstances. About 11% said Biden was doing a better job than his predecessor Donald Trump, and a similar percentage of respondents said they agreed with his policies or actions as president, generally.

It is evident from comparisons with responses to similar questions posed to past presidents that Biden was the least likely of the four presidents to be praised for his traits or style, with 11% citing these about him, contrasting with 24% for Trump, 19% for George W Bush and 16% for Barack Obama.

Policy issue was given as reasons by a larger share of people who disapprove of Biden (47%) than they did for Trump (11%) or Bush (32%) but are less prominent than for Obama (58%). This may have been due to the later timing of Biden's survey than those of his predecessors, Gallup said.

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