President Biden’s job approval ratings drop as Covid cases rise and crisis in Afghanistan mounts
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on evacuation efforts and the ongoing situation in Afghanistan as Secretary of State Antony Blinken stands by in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 20, 2021.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
President Joe Biden’s job approval ratings have taken a dive as he’s been criticized for his administration’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and while Covid-19 cases surge across the country.
An NBC News poll released Sunday shows 49% of all adults surveyed say they strongly approve of the job Biden is doing as president while 48% disapprove. The 49% represents a drop of four percentage points compared to a previous NBC News survey done in April. The disapproval number is up by nine percentage points from that same prior poll.
Among the registered voters surveyed, 50% say they approved of Biden’s job performance while 48% noted they disapproved.
The NBC News poll shows they interviewed 1,000 adults and the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.10%. The survey took place from August 14 through August 17.
A vast majority of those polled say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of the current situation in Afghanistan, with only 25% noting they approve of the way he’s dealt with the crisis.
Biden has been under scrutiny for the way his administration has handled trying to evacuate allies in Afghanistan as American troops pull out of the country and the Taliban retake control of the government there.
While new coronavirus cases continue to go up across the country, Biden’s approval of handling the pandemic has fallen significantly.
Of those surveyed, 53% say they approve of the president’s way of handling the pandemic. That’s a drop of 16 points compared to a poll taken in April. Just over 40% of the poll’s participants say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
