This puts the US president in a better position ahead of the mid-term congressional elections.
After reaching a record low in July, the approval rating US President Joe Biden's approval rating rose six percentage points to 44%, the highest in a year. While this increase is a significant improvement after Biden's few political successes, his approval rating remains relatively low overall, with 53% of Americans disapproving of his job performance. This is evidenced by the Gallup poll.
The increase in Biden's job approval rating is largely driven by independent political respondents, whose support has risen from 31% last month to 40% today. Biden's approval ratings among Democrats (81%) and Republicans (4%) did not change significantly over the same period.
These results were obtained from the August 1-23 Gallup poll, which covered the eventful period of Biden's presidency. While recovering from COVID-19, the president announced that the US had killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. In the days that followed, Democrats in Congress passed a sweeping domestic spending bill, deflationary legislation, health care, climate change and taxes.
While high inflation and fears of a recession continue to destabilize the U.S., there has been some positive economic news recently, with average gasoline prices falling below $4 a gallon, a more positive-than-expected jobs report and a slight decline in inflation. The poll was completed just before Biden announced his plan to cancel student loans, which will reduce the debt of millions of Americans.
Biden's highest approval rating received for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and climate changeOut of 11 questions, Biden received the highest score for his management of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the only issue that receives majority support (58%), including 88% of Democrats, 58% of independent respondents and 20% of Republicans. Approval of Biden's environmental policy is at 50%, the only other issue with a majority of independent respondents. Democrats' ratings of Biden's handling of the remaining nine issues range from 63% to 78%.
41% to 46% of American adults approve of how the president is handling education, the situation in Ukraine, energy and foreign policy. Fewer Americans, between 31% and 39%, approve of Biden's handling of relations with Russia, immigration, gun and abortion policies, and the economy, with his economic policy approval rating the lowest.
Gallup last measured Biden's approval ratings on six of these questions in March. Since then, support for his pandemic response, environment and energy policies has increased by five points, while approval of his economic policies has fallen by five points. Biden's ratings on foreign policy and relations with Russia have not changed statistically compared to March indicators.
Historical context of ratings approval of presidents USA >
The latest improvement in Biden's overall approval rating puts him in a better position heading into the midterm elections than his five predecessors over the past 40 years — Ronald Reagan in 1982, Bill Clinton in 1994, George W. Bush in 2006, Barack Obama in 2014 and Donald Trump in 2018.
However, Biden's August approval rating is dwarfed by the 61% to 75% ratings of Reagan in 1986, George W. Bush in 1990, Clinton in 1998, and George W. Bush in 2002. Obama's approval rating before the August 2010 midterm elections is in line with Biden's current 44%.
Biden, whose approval rating was falling until August, appears to be benefiting from recent victories as well as an improving economy. Gallup's analysis of key polling indicators in June found that the political environment in the US was particularly unfavorable for Democrats. Biden's approval rating remains below the 50% mark, which usually means a difficult midterm election year for the incumbent's party.
Also read: Biden announced the largest military aid to Ukraine from the US in history – almost $3 billion
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