Joe Biden ends the year in the poll doldrums

The US President ends a year of declining fortunes on a lower approval rating than his faltering vice-president, Kamala Harris, as Democrat voters begin to sour on the pair.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on election night last year. Picture: Getty Images

President Biden ends a year of declining fortunes on a lower approval rating than his faltering vice-president, Kamala Harris, as Democrat voters begin to sour on the pair a year after their election.

The latest Gallup poll showed that Biden’s score among all voters, 43 per cent, had not changed since September. He began his presidency on 57 per cent. His ratings remained at or above 50 per cent until the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.

Biden began his presidency on 57 per cent and has remained above 50 per cent until the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. Picture: AFP

Approval for Harris was 49 per cent in September but it slipped to 44 per cent after a series of gaffes, including praising a student who criticised “ethnic genocide” by Israel and taking months to visit the US-Mexico border despite being tasked with stemming illegal immigration.

Few Republicans give Biden a positive reception, and his support among Democrat voters fell from 90 per cent three months ago to 78 per cent in the latest poll. Among crucial independent voters there was a slight rise from 37 to 40 per cent. In January Biden had the backing of 61 per cent of independent voters. Harris had approval from 46 per cent of independents in September but the figure was 42 per cent in the latest poll.

Gallup surveyed US voters on 11 senior public figures and found that the most respected was John Roberts, 66, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who was nominated by George W Bush. Roberts earned 60 per cent approval and was the only figure in the survey to receive bipartisan positive ratings, with backing from 57 per cent of Republican voters and 55 per cent of Democrats.

Nancy Pelosi. Picture: AFP

Mitch McConnell. Picture: Getty Images

Two leading public figures were rated lower than Biden: Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, on 40 per cent, and Mitch McConnell, the most senior Republican in the Senate, on 34 per cent. McConnell is locked in a feud with Donald Trump, who has called for him to be overthrown as party leader in the upper chamber.

Biden’s level of approval is lower than any postwar president at this stage in their administration, apart from Donald Trump, who had 36 per cent in December 2017. Barack Obama had 50 per cent approval in 2009.

The Times