Claim:
Public opinion polls released in April 2024 found Joe Biden to be the least popular U.S. president in 70 years.
Rating:
In April 2024, multiple outlets and social media accounts reported that U.S. President Joe Biden was the least popular president in 70 years.
For example, Livemint business news site reported on Biden’s declining popularity, stating he was the “most unpopular US President in 7 decades.” The article highlighted the significance of Biden’s low approval ratings compared to those of previous presidents since the 1950s and provided insight into the factors contributing to his low popularity, while discussing their implications for his re-election in 2024.
Similarly, a Reddit post repeated the claim, and the New York Post also covered Biden’s low approval ratings, stating that, “Biden is the least popular president in 70 years — below even Nixon and Carter”:
(New York Post/X)
Many of these reports pulled their data from polling analysis by Gallup, which conducted a public survey that found Biden’s approval ratings were historically low, making him the least popular U.S. president since Dwight Eisenhower was in office in the 1950s.
According to the Gallup Poll, Biden’s 13th-quarter approval average was, in fact, the lowest in modern history. The poll, conducted April 1–22, 2024, highlighted a downward trend in Biden’s approval since he took office, with only 38.7% of American voters approving of his performance as president.
Gallup explained its survey methods:
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted April 1-22, 2024, with a random sample of 1,001 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.
Gallup also published its findings on X, using an illustrative chart to show how Biden’s approval rating compared to other U.S. presidents during their 13th quarter in office. According to Gallup, “President Joe Biden averaged 38.7% job approval during his recently completed 13th quarter in office, which began on Jan. 20 and ended April 19. None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden.”:
(GallupNews/X)
In February 2024, online platform Visual Capitalist, which provides data in visual form, published its findings on “U.S. President Approval Ratings in Their Third Year (1955-2023),” covering a longer span of time (a full year) compared to Gallup’s 13th-quarter polling. While Visual Capitalist’s findings further highlighted that Biden’s approval was near the bottom compared to other commanders-in-chief at the same third-year point during their respective presidencies, according to its polling, his approval was 39.8% in February, compared to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter‘s historically low approval rating during the same period, at 37.4%.
FiveThirtyEight, another respected polling-analysis site, drew the same conclusions about Biden’s unpopularity. Released May 8, FiveThirtyEight’s ongoing tracking of Biden’s approval rating showed a consistent decline over time, with his May approval rating hovering around 37.8%, lower than that of his recent predecessors.
Reuters, in a detailed graphic analysis published April 17, 2024, reported Biden’s approval rating stood at 38%, a drop from 40% in March. Market research firm Ipsis reported in March that Biden’s approval was at 40%.
Further, news outlets including The Hill and The Blaze reported on Biden’s historically low approval ratings, corroborating the claim that his “approval rating average is lower than any other president in recent history at the same point in their time in the White House.” These reports provided additional context and analysis of Biden’s declining popularity.
In conclusion, multiple surveys and analysis released in April 2024 by Gallup and other pollsters concluded that Biden was indeed, at the time the polls were taken, the least popular U.S. president in 70 years.
Sources:
Archive, View Author, and Get author RSS feed. Biden Least Popular President in 70 Years, below Nixon, Carter: Gallup Poll. 27 Apr. 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/04/27/us-news/biden-least-popular-president-in-70-years-below-nixon-carter-gallup-poll/.
“Biden Approval Polling Tracker.” Reuters, 17 Apr. 2024. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-BIDEN/POLL/nmopagnqapa/.
“Biden Is the Least Popular President in 70 Years.” Mehr News Agency, 28 Apr. 2024, https://en.mehrnews.com/news/214489/Biden-is-the-least-popular-president-in-70-years.
Biden Is the Least Popular President in 70 Years, below Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon: Report | Blaze Media. https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-is-the-least-popular-president-in-70-years-below-jimmy-carter-and-richard-nixon-report. Accessed 8 May 2024.
“Biden Least Popular President in 70 Years, below Nixon, Carter: Gallup Poll.” Reddit, 29 Apr. 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/unusual_whales/comments/1cg3ypd/biden_least_popular_president_in_70_years_below/.
“Biden ‘most Unpopular US President’ in 7 Decades, Where Does Trump Stand?” Mint, 29 Apr. 2024, https://www.livemint.com/news/world/joe-biden-most-unpopular-us-president-in-seven-decades-where-does-donald-trump-stand-2024-us-elections-11714371912218.html.
Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/NEWSMAX/posts/pfbid0yZao6A8nNUXJiMPLUDTbKqSZ1dFWzN5YGH9xWm4XzXhkWbWpxPy7USt6XLvvBPFPl. Accessed 8 May 2024.
Gangitano, Alex. “Biden Approval Rating Mired at Historic Low: Gallup.” The Hill, 26 Apr. 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4623548-biden-approval-rating-average-historic-low-gallup/.
“Https://Twitter.Com/Gallupnews?Utm_source=link_newsv9&utm_campaign=item_644252&utm_medium=copy.” X (Formerly Twitter), Accessed 8 May 2024.
“Https://Twitter.Com/Nypost/Status/1784522978308329794.” X (Formerly Twitter), Accessed 8 May 2024.
“Https://Twitter.Com/Sabriaballand/Status/1784802582973558894.” X (Formerly Twitter), Accessed 8 May 2024.
Inc, Gallup. “Biden’s 13th-Quarter Approval Average Lowest Historically.” Gallup.Com, 26 Apr. 2024, https://news.gallup.com/poll/644252/biden-13th-quarter-approval-average-lowest-historically.aspx.
—. “Biden’s 13th-Quarter Approval Average Lowest Historically.” Gallup.Com, 26 Apr. 2024, https://news.gallup.com/poll/644252/biden-13th-quarter-approval-average-lowest-historically.aspx.
—. “Presidential Approval Ratings — Joe Biden.” Gallup.Com, 5 Feb. 2021, https://news.gallup.com/poll/329384/presidential-approval-ratings-joe-biden.aspx.
Lu, Marcus. “U.S. President Approval Ratings in Their Third Year (1955-2023).” Visual Capitalist, 2 Feb. 2024, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/us-president-approval-ratings-third-year-biden/#google_vignette.
Report, Staff. “Joe Biden Is the Least Popular Commander in Chief in at Least 70 Years.” Tri-State Alert, 29 Apr. 2024, https://tristatealert.com/joe-biden-is-the-least-popular-commander-in-chief-in-at-least-70-years/.
Silver, Nate. “How Popular Is Joe Biden?” FiveThirtyEight, 28 Jan. 2021, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/.
Wiederkehr, Ryan Best, Aaron Bycoffe, Ritchie King, Dhrumil Mehta and Anna. “Joe Biden : Approval Polls.” FiveThirtyEight, 28 June 2018, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/approval/joe-biden/.
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