Poll: Joe Biden’s Approval Rating Slumps, Plurality Say Handled Coronavirus Worse than Trump

President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to slump as he heads into the second year of his presidency, as a plurality of voters say he has handled the Chinese coronavirus “worse” than former President Donald Trump, a Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey released this week found.

The survey found Biden’s job approval continued to drop over the past month. A plurality, 44 percent, disapprove of Biden’s job performance, while 39 percent approve. That represents a two-point drop from the 41 percent who approved of his job performance in Redfield & Wilton Strategies’ December survey. Of those, 32 percent “strongly” disapprove of his job performance, compared to 14 percent who “strongly” approve:

The survey also asked respondents to gauge how much they approve or disapprove of the Biden administration’s handling of key issues — from the coronavirus pandemic to the economy. 

The results were, in part, as follows:

Coronavirus Pandemic: 41 percent approve, 40 percent disapprove
The Economy: 35 percent approve, 44 percent disapprove
Healthcare: 33 percent approve, 37 percent disapprove
The Environment: 36 percent approve, 33 percent disapprove
Crime/Policing: 31 percent approve, 40 percent disapprove 
Immigration: 30 percent approve, 44 percent disapprove
Relations with China: 30 percent approve, 38 percent disapprove 

Additionally, the survey found that “pluralities of respondents believe Joe Biden has handled the economy (46%), immigration (44%), national security and defense (41%), and foreign policy (41%) worse than Donald Trump.”

“By contrast, a plurality of 40% finds Biden has handled the environment better than his predecessor, while Americans are divided on whether Biden has managed the pandemic worse (40%) or better (39%) than Trump,” it added.

The survey was taken January 8-9, 2022, among 1,500 American voters.