From bad to worse: this is how Americans are defining Joe Biden's performance as his term progresses. According to a Gallup survey, only 39.8% of those surveyed approved of the president's work during his third year in office, which ranged between Jan. 20, 2023 and Jan. 19, 2024. It should be noted that his second year was approved by 41% of respondents and his first year by 49.8%.
Of the most recent presidents, the only one who obtained a lower positive rating than Biden during his third year in office was Jimmy Carter. The 39th president only reached 37.4%, just over two points less than Joe Biden. The highest rated was Dwight D. Eisenhower (72.1%), followed by George H.W. Bush (69.5%), George W. Bush (59.6%), Richard Nixon (49.6%) and Bill Clinton (47.5%).
His third year approval rating is worse than Donald Trump's. The former president, who is on track for a 2020 rematch against Biden in the next election, registered an approval rate of 42% in his third year.
Approval of Biden's third year varies between Democrats and Republicans. While Democratic voters gave him 83% approval, the opposite side of the political spectrum only gave him 5%, reflecting a difference of 78 points. The only president who surpasses Biden in this difference between both sides is Trump, who registered a difference of 82 points, with 89% approval among Republicans and 7% among Democrats.
The border crisis
There are two specific aspects that cause the assessment of Biden's management, year after year, to get worse. The first is the border crisis. His term has been characterized by record migrant encounters on the southern border. During his third year at the head of the country, the record for the entry of illegal immigrants in a fiscal year was broken with 3,201,144.
The president took exactly three years to admit the severity of this problem in the United States. On Jan. 19, 2024, he responded, "No, it's not" to a question posed to him by several mayors in the White House regarding whether the border is safe. On this topic, Biden promised "significant changes" to alleviate the border crisis:
I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system to ensure that we have authorities we need to control the border. ... I’m ready to act.
The economic situation
Another issue that is costing Biden is the economic situation. The national debt, which stands at more than $34 trillion, and inflation, which continues to reflect the continuous rise in prices, are some of the indices that show that the economy is seriously damaged, with severe consequences for citizens.
There are more factors that contributed to the collapse in Biden's approval rating during his third year. For example, his decisions regarding Chinese spy balloon that flew over U.S. airspace, fully aware of the risk of Xi Jinping's regime collecting data and information about the United States, as well as failing to act to control antisemitic demonstrations and violent acts following the attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
