American Presidents come in two flavors. The first category includes Presidents whose overall approval rating exceeds the approval ratings for individual aspects such as handling the economy and immigration. In other words, they are more popular overall than in specific areas. The second category comprises Presidents whose approval ratings for specific aspects are higher than their overall approval rating. In this case, they may be more successful in particular areas but do not enjoy the same level of overall support.
President Biden belongs to the first category; his overall approval does not reflect the underlying weaknesses.
Not counting January 2021, the month of his inauguration, President Biden is in his 28th month in office.
In this report, we take stock of his performance while in office.
Presidential job approval rating has existed since George Gallup introduced it in the late 1930s, and every pollster uses it.
Below is the RealClearPolitics’s Presidential Job Approval Board. The ten most recent polls are shown here. President Biden’s approval ranges from 37% to 50%, averaging 42.1%. Our poll shows 43% approval.
Presidential Leadership Index
Two decades ago, TIPP developed the Presidential Leadership Index, an innovative metric considering favorability, job approval, and Presidential Leadership.
We compute the favorability component based on the survey question, "Overall, is your opinion of Joe Biden generally favorable, generally unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?"
The basis for the index's job approval component is the question: In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as President, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?
The question, "How would you describe the leadership that Joe Biden is providing for the country?" forms the basis for the leadership component.
The Presidential Leadership Index is the average of its three components. For the index and its components, a reading above 50.0 signals optimism, and below 50.0 indicates pessimism.
Observe the following in the chart below. First, in May 2023, all components were below 50, indicating pessimism. The index and its components have dropped by approximately 27% over the 28 months, roughly at the rate of one percent a month.
Below is the chart by party. President Biden dropped:
14% among Democrats (90.5 in Feb 2021 to 77.4 in May 2023)
47% among Republicans (24.9 in Feb 2021 to 13.1 in May 2023)
42% among independents (53.4 in Feb 2021 to 31.1 in May 2023)
Note that while Democrats are hopeful at 77.4 (above 50.0), both Republicans (13.1) and independents (31.1) are below 50.0, indicating deep pessimism.
Comparison Of Presidents (2001-2023)
How does President Biden compare with other Presidents in the 28th month of his term? To answer this question, we plotted the Presidential Leadership Index with months in office as the x-axis.
Observe the following in the chart below:
At this point, President Bush, in his first term, boosted by his response to 911, had the highest rating of 67.7.
President Bush also had the lowest 28-month rating during his second term, 37.8.
President Biden (46.3) is similar to President Obama (49.8 in the first term and 46.9 in the second term) and President Trump (46.9). The four clustered in the 45+ range.
Here are some more stats:
- Bush, in his first term, gained 5% (64.6 to 67.7)
- Bush, in his second term, dropped 27% (51.9 to 37.8)
- Obama, in his first term, dropped 30% (71.0 to 49.8)
- Obama, in his second term, dropped 6% (50.1 to 46.9)
- Trump dropped 4% (49.2 to 47.0)
- Biden dropped 27% (63.1 to 46.3)
Handling of The Economy
President Biden is presiding over the worst inflation of the decade. In the latest IBD/TIPP Poll, 91% of Americans are concerned about inflation. Throughout the past year, inflation concerns have stayed above 85%. The share of "very concerned" has been over 50% for twelve consecutive months.
President Biden's handling of the economy gets good grades only from 30% of Americans, 13 points less than his overall job approval of 43%.
Regarding the economy, he is losing favor within his party. Among Democrats, only 54% give him a good grade in May, much lower than his overall job approval rating of 74%, a whopping 20-point difference.
This month, 84% of Republicans and 53% of independents give him a D or F.
Bidenflation, inflation since he took office, stands at 15.3% in May. Food prices are up by 18.5%, energy by 32.9%, and all items less food and energy by 13.4%.
Most Americans blame President Biden’s policies as the root cause of inflation. The President, beholden to the Green wing of his party, pushed America from energy independence to energy dependence. He emptied the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, causing a national security vulnerability. Now the U.S. depends on dictatorships like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to meet its energy needs.
Only 31% give President Biden good grades for his handling of spending and taxes. Most Democrats (52%) approve of his policies on spending and taxes. Republicans (81%) and independents (53%) give him failing grades.
President Biden is extremely irresponsible for standing his ground and not negotiating with the GOP to lower spending. America’s debt burden is now in the vicinity of $31 trillion. With high inflation, the cost of servicing America’s deficits goes up.
A commercial real estate crisis and a banking crisis are brewing. Credit is hard, and the money supply suffers the biggest drop since the Great Depression. The King dollar is under siege.
Handling Immigration
Title 42 expired on Thursday, and the Biden administration did not replace Title 42, which could result in hundreds of thousands of migrants entering the U.S.
Around 140,000 migrants are reportedly gathering along the Guatemala border, preparing to enter the U.S.
The Mexican drug cartels are gaining power due to the lax border policies. The terrible situation is a catastrophe on multiple fronts: national security, sovereignty, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
The NSA/TIPP survey showed that Americans believe migrants crossing the U.S. southern border pose a problem for their community. Additionally, the survey showed that Americans support tough measures to combat fentanyl smuggling into the US, such as designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, imposing trade sanctions, and deploying military personnel.
To get a full picture of the situation, read the TIPP Poll story by Sheriff Mark Dannels (Cochise County, AZ) here.
Only one in four (25%) give President Biden good grades for his handling of the immigration and border security issues. Even Democrats are unhappy, with only 44% giving him an A or B. Nearly nine in ten (85%) Republicans and 56% of independents flunk President Biden.
Handling China
Americans don’t think that President Biden stands tough against China. The President’s handling of Chinese balloons over American skies recently was unimpressive. He is yet to get to the bottom of the origin of the coronavirus, and the Chinese have been hoodwinking him. No one knows if his Taiwan policy is strategic ambiguity or strategic clarity.
On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Representative Comer alleged that the Bidens had laundered $10 million through multiple banks and over 20 shell companies. According to Comer, the suspicious activity reports from the banks indicate a clear pattern of money laundering. China was alleged as a big player.
Only one in four (26%) gives him good grades on the issue. Only Democrats (44%) are happy. Most Republicans (77%) and independents (48%) are unhappy.
Handling Russia-Ukraine War
The U.S. is fighting a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, and we are involved knee-deep. Americans fear the U.S. may get directly involved and are concerned about using nuclear weapons in the war.
Biden administration is responsible for a war that could have been averted.
President Biden needlessly invited Ukraine to sign a security agreement with the West in November 2021 when there was no imminent Russian threat. Border skirmishes between the Russian majority in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian forces had been going on since Moscow’s Crimea annexation, but these were no reasons for Team Biden to needle Russia.
The action was the catalyst that made Russia act. Team Biden botched things up in multiple ways, giving Moscow reasons to feel threatened and launch a barbaric invasion of Ukraine.
The corporate media is too busy warmongering and never reports the above facts.
President Biden has yet to develop a vision of how to end the war. ‘As long as it takes’ is his strategy. He has already committed over $100 billion, and the U.S. is on tap to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction, estimated above $750 billion. President Trump claimed he could end the war in one day in his New Hampshire town hall this week. Maybe President Biden should take up President Trump’s offer because we have no hope Biden can achieve it.
Only one-third give President Biden good grades for his handling of the war. But, a majority of the Democrats (54%) give him good grades.
Biden, The Divider
Nearly three-fourths (72%) believe the nation is divided. President Biden keeps insulting Trump supporters, some 74 million voters, as MAGA extremists.
He does not foster unity, and his retail politics has been unpresidential and uncouth. He weaponizes race and gender issues regularly.
President Biden’s Mental Health
The corporate media, as usual, ignored President Biden’s mental health. It was taboo, and you risked cancellation if you opened your mouth. For example, Google refused to pay for advertisements on Issues & Insights pages that carried out our poll on President Biden’s mental health.
Finally, in May of this year, the corporate media woke up. The ABC News/Washington Post Poll polled about Biden’s mental health and made a big deal.
The TIPP Poll was ten months ahead. Our readers knew this was a big concern among Americans. In October 2022, when we polled this aspect, 64% of Americans were concerned about President Biden’s mental health. That included over one-half (52%) of his party and 59% of Republicans.
President Biden has weakened America on multiple fronts, from energy independence to open borders. It will take a lot to mend and put the country back in the right direction. But his ratings are on life support for now as he announced his plan to run in 2024. At the polling booth, voters will decide if President Biden’s vision is the right direction for the country.
Like our insights? Show your support by becoming a paid subscriber!
