President Joe Biden's approval rating hits new low in latest Quinnipiac poll

As his agenda flounders on Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden’s popularity among everyday Americans is taking a beating.

Biden’s approval rating has dropped to 38%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. That’s down from 42% three weeks ago and from a high of 50% in mid-February.

“Battered on trust, doubted on leadership, and challenged on overall competency, President Biden is being hammered on all sides as his approval rating continues its downward slide to a number not seen since the tough scrutiny of the Trump administration,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a prepared statement.

© Susan Walsh, AP President Joe Biden walks from the Oval Office to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, as he prepares to leave for a trip to Michigan to talk about infrastructure. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) ORG XMIT: DCSW109

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While the Quinnipiac poll has Biden at an all-time low approval rating, an analysis of various polls by FiveThirtyEight shows it remains at 44%. That is 6 points higher than the Quinnipiac poll.

While Biden maintains wild popularity among Democrats – about 80% approve of the job he is doing – his approval rating among Republicans and independents, who make up the largest portion of the sample, has cratered, according to Quinnipiac.

About 32% of independents approve of Biden’s job as president. His approval rating among Republicans is only 4%.

Respondents panned his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, with only 28% saying the withdrawal was the right move. He had negative approval for his handling of the military, taxes, foreign policy, immigration and the Mexican border, according to the poll.

Biden also hit low points in the latest poll on two key questions: his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy. About half of those polled said they disapprove of the way he has handled the coronavirus, and 55% disapprove of his handling of the economy.

The White House has ramped up pressure on Americans to get vaccinated, but about 20% of respondents said they still do not plan to receive a vaccine.  

The poll surveyed 1,326 adults between Oct. 1-4. Its margin of error was 2.7 percentage points.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Joe Biden's approval rating hits new low in latest Quinnipiac poll