President Joe Biden received heavy criticism from the American public in his handling of the economy, COVID-19 and gun violence, in a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.
As the COVID-19 Omicron variant spreads across the country, resulting in renewed mask mandates, travel restrictions and a third vaccine shot, Biden took a significant hit in Americans’ faith in his handling of the pandemic. While a majority of Americans (53%) still approve of Biden’s response, 45% disapprove, marking the most since he took office and a nearly 20 percentage point drop from March, when 72% of Americans approved of his response.
More: Biden offers condolences, federal resources to areas ravaged by devastating tornadoes
Biden's approval rating slid in his handling of gun violence and crime, as the United States has experienced a surge in gun-related violence and deaths this year, including a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan on Nov. 30 that left four dead and several injured. Biden faced a seven-percentage point drop in his handling of both issues since October.
Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of gun violence, while 32% approve, the ABC News/Ipsos poll found, and only 36% of Americans approve of his handling of crime while 61% disapprove. Both approval numbers are the lowest Biden has seen since his took office.
As inflation continues to surge in the United States, Americans have named it their top concern, surpassing the pandemic. The poll found that 28% of Americans approved of Biden’s handling of inflation, while a majority of Americans, at 69%, disapproved.
More: A 'house on fire': Biden democracy summit comes as US grapples with own democratic crisis
Biden has also seen a drop in approval rates in his handling of the economic recovery, with 41% of Americans approving his handling in December, compared to 47% back in October. Disapproval rates of Biden’s handling of the economy jumped. Fifty-seven percent of Americans surveyed disapproved of his handling of the economy, compared to the 53% in October.
The poll was conducted Dec.10-11, among a random sample of 524 Americans, with a margin of error of 5%.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden approval ratings on COVID-19, inflation sink in new poll
Source: Read Full Article
