Forty-three percent (43%) of voters nationwide now approve of the way President Biden is performing his job. The latest Scott Rasmussen survey finds that 52% disapprove and 5% are not sure. The numbers reflect a slight improvement from the president’s lowest approval ratings.
Those totals include just 21% of voters who Strongly Approve of the president’s performance while 39% Strongly Disapprove.
For most of September and the first half of October, the president’s Job Approval averaged 45%. However, over the past eight surveys, an average of 43% have voiced approval for President Biden. Six of those eight surveys have found the president’s ratings within two points of the average.
The legislation being considered in Congress is unlikely to boost the president’s numbers partly because voters have largely tuned out. Just 19% recognize both that the infrastructure bill passed and that the Build Back Better plan has not.
The lack of voter awareness about his legislative efforts may, in fact, be a blessing for the president. At a time when just 9% believe that the worst of inflation is behind us, 56% believe the president’s plan will make things worse by increasing inflation.
Beyond that, the Build Back Better plan–called the Big Government Socialism Bill by Republicans– has a number of extraordinarily unpopular provisions.
- Sixty-percent (60%) oppose the Build Back Better payments to illegal immigrants. Just 28% support those payments.
- Seventy-three percent (73%) oppose the president’s plan giving the IRS more access to personal and business financial information. That’s partly because 72% think the IRS already collects too much personal information. Voters strongly believe the agency will use new information to target political enemies and the middle class.
- The plan includes a tax credit of up to $50,000 for print journalists. Only 19% like that idea.
- If someone is physically able to work, 78% of voters believe they should be required to seek a job in order to receive financial support from the government. The Biden plan weakens existing work requirements and does not include such requirements for new benefits.
- The plan encourages a rapid transition to electric vehicles. However, just 26% of voters support that goal. Sixty-six percent (66%) believe the transition should wait at least until the needed batteries can be manufactured in the U.S. rather than relying upon China.
- The Build Back Better plan expands eligibility for federal benefits at a time when 55% of voters believe too many are already receiving benefits rather than working.
- Most voters (53%) believe it is more important protect the existing Medicare program rather than expanding it by adding new benefits. Just 34% disagree.
- There are a number of other unpopular provisions including requirements to increase the cost of daycare, reduce the ability of faith-based organizations to provide daycare services, providing federal funding for abortions, and more.
Beyond the political problems with the Build Back Better plan, another challenge facing the president is that pessimism about the pandemic is growing again. However, pessimistic voters have wildly different concerns. Only half (51%) are worried about ongoing health issues. Thirty-six percent (36%) are worried about more government restrictions and mandates.
These results help explain why 49% of voters believe relaxing vaccine mandates, mask requirements, and social distancing guidelines would be good for the economy. Just 30% disagree.
Other data shows that 59% of voters favor relaxing vaccine mandates to ease supply chain issues. Additionally, 61% favor relaxing vaccine mandates for police officers, fire fighters, and health care workers.
These findings, along with other data, provide a sense that support for vaccine mandates is soft. Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters now say they favor the mandates. That’s down six points over the past two months.
Finally, despite the heated rhetoric on both sides, just 13% see Kyle Rittenhouse as a hero. A larger number–25%– say that he is a murderer. However, a solid plurality of 43% believe Rittenhouse did stupid things but is not a murderer.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Question:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Biden is performing his job?
21% Strongly approve
22% Somewhat approve
13% Somewhat disapprove
39% Strongly disapprove
5% Not sure
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on November 22-23, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
