Biden polls better than 50pc for first 100 days in office in heavily partisan divide

With the exception of Donald Trump, every US president since Gerald Ford has polled higher than Joe Biden at this stage.

Joe Biden boards Marine One in Delaware, his home state, on Monday as he returns to Washington. Picture: AFP

More than half of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s performance during his first 100 days in office, three new polls show, but other presidents have done better.

Mr Biden’s performance is far higher than Donald Trump achieved in his entire presidency but, with the exception of his predecessor, every US president since Gerald Ford has had higher average approval than Mr Biden at this stage.

The polls show a range of 52-58 per cent of US adults say they approve of the job Mr Biden is doing, compared with 39-42 per cent who say they disapprove.

The polls were released just days before Mr Biden’s first address to congress on Thursday AEST.

The positive ratings are heavily divided along party lines: about 90 per cent of Democrats say they approve of Mr Biden’s performance, while only 9 to 13 per cent of Republicans do.

US President Joe Biden listens as Vice-President Kamala Harris speaks at the White House last week. Picture: AFP

Barack Obama, under whom Mr Biden served as vice-president, had an average of 60 per cent approval in his first half-year and his predecessor George W. Bush had 53.9 per cent. Mr Trump, by contrast, had an average approval rating of 41.4 per cent in his first six months and left office on January 20 with a Gallup poll approval of just 34 per cent, a record low.

According to data from the fivethirtyeight.com site, Mr Trump was the first president in half a century not to enjoy a honeymoon period.

Mr Biden’s priorities so far have been domestic: after an early blizzard of executive actions to undo much of Mr Trump’s legacy he turned his attention to defeating the pandemic and reviving the economy, with a secondary focus on race and the climate crisis.

On Saturday the left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised his efforts at a virtual town hall meeting, saying he had “exceeded expectations that progressives had. I think a lot of us expected a lot more conservative administration”.

Of the new polls, one by CBS gives Mr Biden the highest ranking, with 58 per cent approval. NBC found that 53 per cent of adults approve, while 39 per cent disapprove. And a poll by ABC and The Washington Post showed a 52 per cent overall approval rating.

Mr Biden’s strongest performance was for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with 64-69 per cent approval. However, the polls found that vaccine hesitancy has increased, with CBS showing that 19 per cent of Republicans say they might get the vaccine, and 30 per cent saying they won’t get it at all.

Young would-be migrants or asylum seekers at the weekend after spending the night in one of the car lanes off the San Ysidro Crossing Port on the Mexican side of the US border in Tijuana. Picture: AFP

Additionally, Mr Biden received the weakest marks for how he has dealt with the migration situation at the US-Mexico border. The ABC poll found that only 37 per cent of adults approved of his approach to the border, while NBC found that only 33 per cent approved.

The polling came as Vice-President Kamala Harris said the US government would focus on helping Central American farmers affected by climate change in an effort to address a root cause of illegal migration. Ms Harris has been tasked with spearheading Mr Biden’s bid to resolve the long-running problem of uncontrolled migration over the US-Mexican border.

The US Department of Agriculture “is going to increase our focus and our resources around helping farmers in that region who have been devastated by crisis in terms of climate and drought”, Ms Harris told CNN.

Ms Harris pointed to climate change as one of the root causes of the migration surge, due to extreme weather conditions such as drought devastating the Central American agricultural industry.

“A residual point is not only about the economic devastation and what we need to do to assist with economic development and relief, but it’s also they’ve got extreme hunger there and food insecurity,” she said.

“If parents and children cannot literally eat, if they cannot have the basic essential things that everyone needs to live, of course they’re going to flee.”

When Mr Biden delivers his address to a joint session of congress, only about 200 people will be allowed into the chamber and no House of Representatives members or senators will be allowed to bring guests. In a break with tradition, there will be no first lady’s box, which is often filled with guests of the first family.

AFP

US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Picture: AFP