Amid positive polling figures that could have spelled a comeback for President Joe Biden, recent approval rating data shows Biden’s approval rating falling modestly, a bad sign for Democrats’ midterm ambitions.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday (August 30) was conducted over two days and found that Biden only had a 38 percent approval rating.
Last week Biden’s approval rating climbed to 41 percent, after a string of legislative victories.
But by Tuesday, it seems the polling victory was short-lived, as the President’s figures experienced a 3 percentage point drop.
While Biden’s approval rating has hovered at or below 40 percent according to many polls, according to Gallup, 38 percent has been Biden’s lowest approval rating, a figure the President reached on a Gallup poll back in June.
Last week’s reprieve from a sub-40 approval rating pointed to the President — and Democrats — making a rebound in time for the midterm elections.
But this week’s data firmly cements Biden’s inability to help Democrats retain their Congressional majorities in November.
While it’s uncertain whether Democrats will lose the Senate majority, forecasts regarding the loss of the House of Representatives are far more definitive.
Even if Republicans only win the lower chamber, without the House of Representatives, Biden’s legislative agenda would come to a halt and could prompt politically damaging investigations.
Biden’s Polling, which has remained below 50 percent for a year, began its steady decline after the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and continued to plummet as America grappled with inflation and rising fuel prices. At some point, some polls put Biden’s Approval Rating as low as 36 percent, a 3 percentage point increase from former President Donald Trump’s lowest figures, achieved in December 2020.
