Joe Biden’s approval rating rises above 50% for the first time in five months
President Joe Biden receives first positive poll rating since May, with 49% approval and 48% disapproval, according to Rasmussen Reports.
President Joe Biden has received his first positive poll rating since May in a new survey by Rasmussen Reports, which showed that 49 percent of Americans approve of his job performance while 48 percent disapprove.
This is the first time that more Americans have given Biden a thumbs up than a thumbs down in a poll included by FiveThirtyEight, which lists polls it deems reputable.
The President's last positive approval rating was reported in a May YouGov survey, although it stands as an exception, as the majority of surveys indicate a negative approval rating for Biden.
Biden, seeking re-election in November 2024, has encountered hurdles in recent polls. In an NBC survey conducted last month, his disapproval rating reached 56 percent, marking the highest since assuming the presidency in January 2021, while his approval rating stood at 41 percent.
Republican opponents have criticized the 80-year-old's age and ability to govern, particularly in light of a series of missteps in September.
Despite giving Biden a net positive rating, the Rasmussen poll, of 1,500 likely U.S. voters conducted between September 25 and October 1, found that the president had a big gap among voters who said they felt “strongly.” Only 28 percent of respondents said they “strongly approve” of his performance compared to 41 percent who “strongly disapprove.”
The Rasmussen poll is the first one by FiveThirtyEight to give Biden a positive approval since a YouGov survey of 1,500 American adults conducted between May 6-9. This gave the president an approval rating of 48 percent, versus 46 percent disapproval.
Nonetheless, FiveThirtyEight's data compilation reveals that the Rasmussen survey is notably atypical. The aggregation website reports an overall net disapproval rating of 54.9 percent for Biden, in contrast to a 39.8 percent approval rating as of October 2.
In a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News between September 15 and 20, former President Donald Trump, who holds a substantial lead in GOP primary polls, secured a 10-point advantage in a hypothetical matchup against Biden. The results showed Trump with 52 percent of the vote compared to Biden's 42 percent.
Nevertheless, the newspaper emphasized that this outcome was an exception, as it did not align with the findings of other surveys, which showed the two contenders in a much tighter race.
The Rasmussen poll was conducted against the backdrop of an impending government shutdown. Ultimately, Congress reached a bipartisan short-term agreement on Saturday, ensuring government funding for a period of 45 days. The measure’s passage gives Congress time to continue developing a long-term solution. Biden issued a statement shortly after Congress signed off on the bill, calling it “good news.”
The poll also comes as House Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry into the president. The initial hearing took place on Thursday, September 28. Republicans are conducting an inquiry into whether the president engaged in a quid pro quo arrangement, trading political favors for financial transactions involving his son, Hunter Biden, during his tenure as vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. As of now, no concrete connection has been established between payments made to Hunter and his father's policy decisions, and the president vehemently denies any misconduct.
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On September 28, the GOP’s witness, legal scholar and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, said he did not believe “the evidence currently meets the standard of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment.”
“I have previously stated that, while I believe that an impeachment inquiry is warranted, I do not believe that the evidence currently meets the standard of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment,” Turley wrote in his written statement, which he read verbatim during the hearing.
