Jan 20

Jan 20 President Biden has marginal approval ratings while voters favor Republican control of Congress By John Zogby

Polling by John Zogby Strategies shows President Joe Biden with a 46% approval rating, while 52% disapprove. The new online poll of 777 likely voters nationwide was conducted on December 17 online and has an overall margin of sampling error of +/- 3.6 percentage points.

Among key groups- Biden’s positive rating is only 54% from Hispanics, 64% from Blacks, and 46% from 18 – 29-year-olds.

Of the 52% who disapprove, 40% strongly disapprove. However, only 20% strongly approve of Joe Biden’s job as President.

While the President receives solid approval from Democrats (84%), his positive rating is only 54% among Hispanics, 64% among Blacks, and 46% from 18 – 29 year olds – all groups he relied heavily upon for the 2020 election.

The President has a 51% approval on his handling of COVID-19. Yet, approval numbers fall short on Immigration with 36% – combining strongly and somewhat approve – vs. 58% disapproving with 45% strongly and 13% somewhat disapproving.

Furthermore, only 31% approve of his handling of curbing inflation.

At the same time, voters favor a Republican majority of the next Congress – 46% to 43%. While 93% of Democrats favor Democratic control, and 92% of Republicans favor Republican control – Independents prefer Republican control of Congress 45% to 27% Democrat, leaving 28% undecided.

Biden’s overall numbers are borderline at 46% but with 40% strong disapproval, his room for growth is severely limited. In my four decades of polling, Democrats need about a five-percentage point advantage nationwide Congressional preference in order to maintain a majority of Congress. With a three-point Republican lead, and a substantial lead among Independents, signs are pointing today to the possibility of a big Republican advantage going into 2022.

John Zogby (@TheJohnZogby) is the founder of the Zogby Poll and Zogby companies, including John Zogby Strategies, and author of We Are Many We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in the 21st Century America.