Biden Has 52% Approval Rating in New Poll as 100-Day Milestone Approaches

Nearly 100 days into Joe Biden’s presidency, just over half of Americans approve of the job he has been doing, according to poll results released Sunday.

The 52% approval rating is the lowest of any commander in chief at this point in their administration since Gerald Ford, except for former President Donald Trump, according to the Washington Post-ABC News survey.

Forty-two percent of respondents disapprove of Biden so far.

About this time in 2017, 42% of Americans approved of Trump, and 53% disapproved.

Biden’s highest marks come from his handling of the pandemic, winning the approval of about 6 in 10 Americans, and 52% gave him kudos for his performance on the economy.

The survey results come after Democrats passed nearly $2 trillion in COVID relief in March and as Biden has led massive efforts to vaccinate the country while pushing for a sweeping legislative package on infrastructure.

But only 37% of Americans approve of his job on immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Six in 10 Americans said Biden should be willing to implement “major changes” to his proposals in order to gain Republican support.

Among the Republicans surveyed, 78% said they strongly disapprove of the job Biden has been doing. That compares with 72% of Democrats who strongly disapproved of Trump in spring 2017. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Looking further back, in April 2009, 43% of Republicans strongly disapproved of then-President Barack Obama’s early performance in office.

Biden is scheduled to give his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, ahead of his 100th day in office on Friday.

Due to concerns over possible COVID-19 spread, only about 200 members of Congress will be allowed to attend the speech inside the House chamber.

Biden is expected to tout his “American Families Plan” covering initiatives like paid family leave, community college and child care and tax credits for working-class parents.