The two year anniversary of Biden's underwater approval

[Arizona Iced Tea]

On this day (August 21) two years ago in 2021, was the last time Biden ever saw positive approval according to RCP where he was merely+0.2 in the aggregate.

Biden started his presidency off with surprisingly strong approvals as he was over 50% till August. Many people wondered what caused it, relief from Trump, lack of any action, maybe the country actually liked Democrats? It was assumed that he would continue to hold that momentum for at least the rest of the year.

Then came Afghanistan which put him in the negatives once and for all. As of today the issue is pretty much in the back of most people's minds and the country has moved on from it. However, Biden's approval never recovered- in fact it continued to go downwards.

It continued to decline for poor Joe all the way until late July 2022 when his approval sat at an abyssmal 36.8%. Around the midterms it slowly rose again but never exceded 45%. Since spring it has pretty much sat around 41-42%.

So why is this important? Well if you look at Biden after Afghanistan his approval is roughly as constant as Trump's was, where he sat in the low 40's. At the same time his low approval shows he is not significantly favored for re-election, but also its not that bad where I would say he is likely to lose.

[Mr.Bakari-Sellers]

Lol do you know where Bush W was in 2004 47/51 4.5 percentage pts unemployment and he won OH and Eday, we won WI, FL and PA and OH guess what 52/48 the Rs are 0/4 in special Edays this Eday cycle and are gonna be 0/5 with KY I wouldn't be bragging if I were you we reaffirm the blue wall in 22 with the same low Approvals


It's a COVID Environment do you really think Biden is below 50% Approvals lie all the time

Biden only won 5045, blue wave of 2008 was 52/45 and only 51/47 in 2012 we can win a blue wave with Biden currently Approvals because it's votes that count the Rs offer nothing but tax cuts for Rich

[Ferguson97]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

[Mr.Bakari-Sellers]

Pbower already said id Biden the I c is struggling add 7 pts to his Approvals that's the 303 map

[Progressive Pessimist]

If it wasn't Afghanistan, his approval still would have cratered when the supply chain crisis really started to feel tangible that Autumn. Or maybe no event even would have caused it-we're just so polarized that I don't know if any President can have net positive approval ratings anymore, whether deserved or not.

[The Economy is Getting Worse]

If it wasn't Afghanistan, his approval still would have cratered when the supply chain crisis really started to feel tangible that Autumn. Or maybe no event even would have caused it-we're just so polarized that I don't know if any President can have net positive approval ratings anymore, whether deserved or not.

It's possible to have positive approval ratings; Biden's negative ratings is because Biden has presided over a poor economy.

[Progressive Pessimist]

If it wasn't Afghanistan, his approval still would have cratered when the supply chain crisis really started to feel tangible that Autumn. Or maybe no event even would have caused it-we're just so polarized that I don't know if any President can have net positive approval ratings anymore, whether deserved or not.

It's possible to have positive approval ratings; Biden's negative ratings is because Biden has presided over a poor economy.

And Trump presided over a stable economy and was just as near-constantly underwater. Granted, Biden's more subdued personality probably doesn't make that the best comparison.

[The Economy is Getting Worse]

If it wasn't Afghanistan, his approval still would have cratered when the supply chain crisis really started to feel tangible that Autumn. Or maybe no event even would have caused it-we're just so polarized that I don't know if any President can have net positive approval ratings anymore, whether deserved or not.

It's possible to have positive approval ratings; Biden's negative ratings is because Biden has presided over a poor economy.

And Trump presided over a stable economy and was just as near-constantly underwater. Granted, Biden's more subdued personality probably doesn't make that the best comparison.

Trump's good economy balanced out his personality somewhat. If he had Biden's economy, he would be around 30.

[Progressive Pessimist]

If it wasn't Afghanistan, his approval still would have cratered when the supply chain crisis really started to feel tangible that Autumn. Or maybe no event even would have caused it-we're just so polarized that I don't know if any President can have net positive approval ratings anymore, whether deserved or not.

It's possible to have positive approval ratings; Biden's negative ratings is because Biden has presided over a poor economy.

And Trump presided over a stable economy and was just as near-constantly underwater. Granted, Biden's more subdued personality probably doesn't make that the best comparison.

Trump's good economy balanced out his personality somewhat. If he had Biden's economy, he would be around 30.

I can agree with that, but the Biden economy is in reality more complicated than it is "poor" and is certainly far better than it was a year ago, but perceptions of it haven't changed.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The Afghanistan withdrawal (specifically the way in which it happened) was unquestionably a major blow, but Biden’s approval rating was already declining in July of 2021, for a very obvious reason: the Delta variant and new lockdowns/restrictions after we had initially re-opened nationally when the COVID vaccines began to be widely available and a lot of Americans were getting them.

Go back and read news stories from that month. That was what really ended Biden’s honeymoon period (to the extent any President gets one these days)—Afghanistan was merely an accelerant.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

If the US was still in Afghanistan, he'd have suffered worse in 2024.

[Senator Incitatus]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

I tend to agree that it was his best policy move so far and that it was also horribly bungled. Americans (rightly) focus on the American losses—we also issued a drone strike on an innocent family on extremely tenuous intelligence, murdering them all in their driveway, including two baby girls. (Biden has since rightly restricted further use of the drone program outside war zones.)

Still net positive—I’m one of the bigger defenders on “the right” when it comes to  his decisions surrounding the withdrawal, but I’m also completely unsurprised it was unpopular. It resulted in something for literally everyone to dislike.

[All Along The Watchtower]

And the Taliban being in charge of Afghanistan again isn’t exactly a “good look” even granting that most Americans were (and are) sick of “endless wars.”

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

Trump made the based decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Biden just managed to  up the withdrawal in the most carcrash way possible.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

Trump made the based decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Biden just managed to  up the withdrawal in the most carcrash way possible.

It wasn't going to end any other way.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

The greatest thing Biden has ever done as President (so far) and the public never forgave him for it.

Trump made the based decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Biden just managed to  up the withdrawal in the most carcrash way possible.

It wasn't going to end any other way.

I disagree. They should have got the equipment out first like Trump wanted, and not delayed the timeline.