Biden with low approval on economy, guns and immigration in new poll

As President Joe Biden embarks on his re-election campaign, just 33% of American adults say they approve of his handling of the economy and just 24% say economic conditions are in good shape, according to a new AP poll. -NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Public approval of Biden’s handling of the economy remains low at a time of high inflation, a tough housing market and concerns about a potential US government debt default.

Opinion is also downbeat about Biden’s efforts on gun policy and immigration, with just 31% saying they approve of the president’s performance on those burning issues. Overall, 40% say they approve of the way Biden is doing his job, similar to his approval rating for much of the past year and a half.

Zoie Mosqueda, 24, who does not identify with any political party, said her family is ready to buy their first home, but with an average mortgage interest rate hovering around 6.9%, that goal, at least for now, it’s out of reach.

The West Texas woman said she has also been frustrated with Biden’s handling of gun policy and his failure to follow through on his campaign promise to implement fairer immigration policy.

A recent spate of mass shootings across the country, including this month at an Allen, Texas, mall that left eight people dead and seven injured, has her hoping Biden and lawmakers in Washington do more to address the scourge of armed violence.

Even among Democrats, the poll shows that only about half approve of his handling of immigration and gun policy.

“Everything feels a little crazy right now in this economy,” said Mosqueda, a mother of two who works in a boutique and is looking to open her own business. “My oldest daughter is in school now, and she worries that this lack of gun policy could affect her.”

Biden returned Sunday night from a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, for the annual G7 summit, where the global economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a crucial topic.

The summit was overshadowed by the Biden administration’s negotiations with Republican lawmakers to raise the US debt ceiling and avoid an early June default that could have a severe impact on the global economy.

Before leaving for Japan, Biden canceled scheduled stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia so he could return to the United States and focus on debt limit talks.

“It would be a total catastrophe for the country if they don’t agree to do something,” said Bob Vought, a retired auto parts store manager in St. Petersburg, Florida. He said he strongly disapproves of Biden’s handling of the economy.

Vought, who lives off his Social Security retirement, said inflation is taking a toll on his personal finances.

Under the Biden administration, Social Security had two of the biggest increases in decades, rising 5.9% in 2022 and 8.7% in 2023. But Vought said that’s not enough to keep up with a rising rent at the mobile home park where she lives with her father and the rising costs of food and other basic necessities.

Vought, an independent who normally votes Republican but voted for Biden in 2020, said he is also frustrated by the “out-of-control” rise in illegal immigrant crossings at the southern border of the United States.

Despite his frustrations with Biden, Vought said he would likely vote Democrat again if Trump wins the Republican nomination.

“I approve of almost half of Trump’s policies, but I think he is a liar and very arrogant,” Vought said. “If those were the only two candidates… I would still have to vote for Biden.”

John Billman, 79, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said Biden doesn’t get enough credit for passing the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill and the $280-billion CHIPS Act to boost the industry. semiconductors in the US, or the historically low unemployment rate, currently at 3.4%.

Billman, who approves of Biden’s performance, said he feels the political conversation has become even more toxic since the January 6, 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill in Washington.

“Since January 6, there are so many who seem incredibly angry at the government, who think the government and Biden are just doing bad things,” Billman said. “I’m talking about the infrastructure bill. It’s something bad? I have family members who I respect and love, and they’re smart people, who say, ‘I hate Biden.’ I can understand disagreeing with him, but how can you hate Biden? It’s scary.”

Biden has lower approval on the economy even among Democrats: 61% approve of him on that count, compared to 75% for his job overall. Democrats are even more pessimistic about the current state of the economy, though they are still more likely than Republicans to say the country is headed in the right direction (36% vs. 7%) or to rate the economy as good (41% against 7%).

Some Democratic respondents who approve of the president’s performance said they are puzzled by life in the United States after the pandemic and what often seems like a complete abandonment of bipartisanship in Washington.

Karen D’Andrea, 64, a Democrat from Port Saint Lucie, Florida, was among the millions of Americans who lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic. She was able to land a new job at a tech company, but was recently laid off because the industry is going through some of the most significant cost cuts since the Great Recession of 2008.

“I think like-minded people feel like our best days are behind us,” said D’Andrea, who approves of Biden’s work but believes the country is moving in the wrong direction.

“Republicans like to say they want America to be great again. I think things can be wonderful now, but we have to work together.”

The survey of 1,680 adults was conducted May 11-15 using a sample drawn from NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel based on probability, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.