September 15
By Madeline Fitzgerald
President Joe Biden’s approval rating rebounded sharply after a summer of low polling, surging almost 10 percentage points from his numbers in July on a series of Democratic victories.
While still underwater at 45%, the figure is significantly better than the 36% the president recorded in the summer. The surge was largely due to Democrats, whose approval of Biden increased from 31% in June to 46% in September. Ninety percent of Republicans still disapprove of the president.
Biden’s increasing popularity bodes well for his party as it heads into crucial midterm elections in November.
Though the president has yet to return to the lofty 60% approval ratings he had for the first six months of his term, 45% is a dramatic improvement from his numbers over the summer. In May, June and July, his approval rating never exceeded 40%.
The rising good fortunes for the president follow several recent wins for him and his party. Democrats passed two significant bills in August – the Inflation Reduction Act that makes historic investments in climate and the economy and the CHIPS Act that facilitates the growth of American manufacturing of computer chips. In addition, economic strain on Americans appears to be lessening. Gas prices have fallen by 26% since their record $5 per gallon highs in June, and the Fed’s decision to increase interest rates has come as inflation rates – still running uncharacteristically high – are stabilizing.
Twenty-seven percent of Americans said they believed the country was headed in the right direction, an improvement from just 17% in July. The increase primarily came from Democrats – with 44% now saying that they have an optimistic outlook for the country compared to 27% in July. Nine percent of Republicans said they were optimistic about the country’s future.
The AP also pointed to former President Donald Trump’s summer of legal controversies as a possible contributing factor in Biden’s rising approval ratings, with many respondents saying their approval of Biden was tied to their disapproval of Trump.
After the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and the revelation of hundreds of sensitive documents in his possession, Biden’s criticism of the former president has intensified. In a primetime address, earlier this month, the president said that “equality and democracy are under assault” due to the actions of Trump and his most ardent supporters.