American voters are steadily losing confidence in President Biden, whose approval rating has hit a new low since he took office — while former President Donald Trump’s approval rating is on the rise.
According to a new poll released by Gallup on Wednesday, only 43 percent of Americans approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, dropping from 49 percent in August.
The poll, which surveyed 1,005 adults across the nation from Sept. 1 to 17, found that 53 percent of respondents disapprove of Biden’s job.
Biden’s approval rating has been in free fall for several months, while his disapproval is growing. In June, Gallup found approval to be around 56 percent with disapproval at 42 percent.
His approval is down 14 points since he took office in January.
Overall, American voters are largely dissatisfied with how the country is being governed, with 69 percent saying they disapprove and only 30 percent approving.
Wednesday’s poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
As disapproval grows, Trump is seeing a rise in his own approval rating, overtaking Biden by approximately 2 percentage points, a separate poll found.
Forty-eight percent of American voters were found to have a positive view of Trump, while only 46 percent said they favored Biden, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey shared with multiple outlets.
On the disapproval side, the survey still found Trump on top, with 47 percent saying they had a negative view of the former president while 49 percent disapproved of Biden.
As rumors continue to swirl about whether Trump will run again in 2024, 51 percent of the 1,578 respondents said Trump was a better president than Biden. Only 49 percent said they preferred Biden over Trump.
“The mounting issues on all fronts have led to the surprise conclusion that Trump is now seen as being as good a president as Biden, suggesting the honeymoon is being replaced with buyer’s remorse,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard-Harris survey, according to UK outlet the Times. “People see [Mike] Pence as a better VP by 10 points and overwhelmingly see [Trump Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo as far better than [Biden Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, who has been out front on Afghanistan.”
Conducted from Sept. 15 to 16, the Harvard/Harris poll comes as the Biden administration grapples with the growing crisis at the southern border and the aftermath of a chaotic troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
A range of other surveys have showcased Biden’s drop in approval in recent weeks. On Wednesday, a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll found that less than a third of Iowans approve of the job Biden is doing, an alarming sign given the key role the swing state plays in national elections.
