President Joe Biden's approval rating continued to decline as 71 percent of Americans believe the United States is on the wrong track, according to the latest NBC News poll released Sunday.
The study found that 42 percent of respondents approved of Biden's job performance, while 54 percent disapproved. This marks the first time an NBC poll has reported that Biden has underwater approval ratings since his election as president.
Among likely voters, his approval was not quite as low. Still, 52 percent disapproved of his job performance, while 45 percent said they approved of it.
His approval has dropped significantly over the past few NBC News polls. Its August poll found that 49 percent approved of his performance, while 48 percent disapproved. In April, 53 percent approved, while 39 percent disapproved.
A narrow majority of respondents said they still approve of how Biden has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the poll. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they approved of his pandemic management, while 47 percent did not. These numbers are down from April when 69 percent said they approved of how he has managed the crisis.
Only 40 percent approved of how the president is handling the economy, while 57 percent disapproved, according to the poll.
Biden's drop in approval comes as more Americans feel that the United States is not on the right track. The poll found that 71 percent of respondents felt the U.S. was "off on the wrong track." Only 22 percent said the U.S. was headed in the right direction.
Forty-one percent of respondents said they are confident the best years are still ahead of the U.S., while 53 percent said they worry the best years "may already be behind us."
When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, most respondents—56 percent—said the worst is behind us. Still, 19 percent said the worst is still yet to come, while 17 percent said the coronavirus is not a major problem.
The poll is aligned with others that have found a drop in the president's approval rating in recent months. Though Biden came into office with relatively high approval numbers, those have dropped since August following the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, and a rise in cases in COVID-19 largely attributed to the highly-transmissible Delta variant.
Biden has also faced criticism over a variety of other issues—even as COVID-19 cases have dropped—including major supply chain issues, heightened gas prices, concerns about unemployment, and an increased number of migrants and asylum seekers coming to the southern border. He has also struggled to push through his agenda in Congress, where two infrastructure bills have stalled amid negotiations among Democrats.
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 adults from October 23 to 26, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. It comes just days before a number of elections on Tuesday, including the highly-watched Virginia gubernatorial race, where Republicans have sought to capitalize off of Biden's declining approval numbers to eke out a victory in a Democratic-leaning state.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment Sunday morning but had not heard back by publication. This story will be updated with any response.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
