President Joe Biden is closing out 2024 – and his presidency – nearly 20 points underwater in his job approval rating.
Americans have a severely negative view of the president, according to RealClearPolitics. Biden’s approval rating suffers from a 57% negative rating, while just 39% of Americans give positive feedback, leading to an 18-point difference, one of the highest of his presidency.
Biden has been underwater for most of his presidency. He began his term in January 2021 with a 20-point advantage, but months later, in August, his approval rating flipped negative during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Biden’s approval rating never recovered, and he remained underwater for the rest of his presidency.
Biden’s approval rating hit its lowest mark in July 2022, according to RealClearPolitics. The president was just a few more points underwater than now. Americans disapproved of Biden 58% to just 37% approval – a 21-point gap.
The low point of his presidency reflected deep dissatisfaction with him from within Biden’s own party. A New York Times/Siena College pollat the time found that barely over a quarter of Democratic voters supported renominating Biden for another term, with doubts about his age and disapproval of his performance as the leading justifications.
Biden’s age was a significant concern throughout his presidency. The president often made confusing remarks, appeared lost and depleted, and, in an echo of his 2020 campaign strategy, largely avoided press questions unless they were scripted.
The worries about Biden’s age – a topic often remarked upon in conservative media circles – only broke into wider media after a disastrous July 27 debate performance. The debate led to a swell of Democratic angst against the president, and calls for him to step aside after effectively winning the Democratic presidential nomination.
Democratic lawmakers called for a new candidate, and wealthy patrons pulled financial support, squeezing Biden until he announced he was handing over the nomination to his vice president, Kamala Harris.
One of Biden’s parting shots as president, and one that earned him another round of widespread criticism, was his unprecedented sweeping pardon of his son, Hunter, earlier this month. The president pardoned his son for all “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”
Biden’s decision to pardon his son came after months of promises during the campaign to allow the legal process to play out. The move, which protected Hunter from legal consequences to multiple felony charges, stood in stark contrast to the president’s attacks on President-elect Donald Trump, who was at the time facing multiple cases, some of which stemmed from Biden’s own Department of Justice.
