Biden's Sixth-Quarter Approval Rating Lowest On Record: How Did Previous Presidents Fare?

President Joe Biden’s approval rating has plummeted to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll.

What Happened: The percentage of people, who approve of the way Biden has handled his job as president was at 38%, the analytics company said, citing its July survey. The president's approval rating was above 50% only during the first seven months of his tenure, and between September 2021 and June 2022, his ratings flatlined between 40 and 43.

Source: Gallup

Related: Biden's Approval Rating Threatens To Test Trump's Lows: Here's The Single Issue That's Weighing On People's Minds

Sixth-Quarter Approval Worst For Biden: Gallup’s survey also showed that Biden’s sixth quarter approval rating, which corresponds to the period between April-June 2022 was the worst among all elected presidents, the survey showed.

The average approval rating for Biden for the sixth quarter was 40. The second-worst rating was for former Presidents Donald Trump and Jimmy Carter. The latter two had an average rating of 42 for the period.

The highest average sixth-quarter rating was for former President Barack Obama, at 75.

Source: Gallup

Benzinga’s Take: Biden’s record low approval rating partly reflects the challenges he has faced thus far. The first year in office, he was left the daunting task of bringing the economy back on track following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Monetary policy easing and stimulatory policies that were implemented in the aftermath of the pandemic resulted in an unintended consequence of higher inflation.

Come 2022, Biden had another set of challenges to face. Russia went to war with Ukraine, further straining the supply chain that fed U.S. corporations. On the monetary policy side, the Fed was left with no choice but to raise interest rates, resulting in two consecutive quarters of negative growth – technically called a recession.

It remains to be seen if the president will be able to regain broader public support by combating the economic and geopolitical malaise with effective policy actions.

Photo: Courtesy of Matt Johnson on flickr