Joe Biden’s approval ratings have entered negative territory

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and surging Covid-19 cases have left Americans dissatisfied with their president.

By Ben Walker

US President Joe Biden meets with members of his Cabinet, national security team, and private sector and education leaders to discuss how to collectively improve the Nations cybersecurity, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 25, 2021. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and surging Covid-19 cases have hit US president Joe Biden hard, with more Americans now saying they disapprove of his presidency than approve. This is the first time Americans have felt this way since his ascendency to the White House in January of this year.

The RealClearPolitics tracker of public opinion towards the US president, which is a simple unweighted average of all polls conducted, finds president Biden has the approval of 47 per cent of Americans while 49 per cent disapprove of him.

More Americans now disapprove of Joe Biden as US president than approve

RealClearPolitics polling average

Some polls find the margin of those disapproving of him to be higher. Rasmussen Reports, for example, finds that 55 per cent of Americans disapprove of the current US president. YouGov and Morning Consult, meanwhile, pollsters with better form for accuracy, put the share disapproving of Biden at between 48 and 46 per cent.

These figures, nonetheless, are a marked contrast from those in July, when Biden enjoyed the approval of more than 52 per cent of Americans.