Donald trumps Joe in the popularity stakes
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has overtaken President Joe Biden in favourability ratings among American voters only eight months after the transfer of power – a remarkable turnaround that is attributed to crises at home and abroad.
He has a positive rating of 48 per cent compared with Mr Biden’s 46 per cent in a new Harvard/Harris poll, a result that reflects dismay among US voters over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, surging numbers of coronavirus cases, migrants flocking to
the Mexico border and deadlock in congress, where the President’s ambitious plans are stuck in the mud.
Mr Biden’s top team also fared badly compared with Mr Trump’s: 55 per cent of respondents said Mike Pence was a better vice-president than his successor, Kamala Harris, and 63 per cent believed that Mike Pompeo was a better secretary of state than Antony Blinken.
Ms Harris was put in charge of tackling migration but has suffered from chaotic scenes at the border in Texas.
Mr Blinken is taking much of the blame for mistakes made in the Afghan pullout when 13 US troops were killed in a bombing at Kabul airport and the nation’s allies complained of being ignored.
A range of other surveys show the same trends, with a poll in the bellwether state of Iowa putting Mr Biden’s approval rating at 31 per cent, down from 43 per cent in June.
The President held talks with feuding Democrats at the White House this week in an effort to reach agreement on his two huge infrastructure bills, which face collapse over internal party wrangling.
Leftwingers are threatening to reject the $US1.1 trillion traditional infrastructure deal, which has bipartisan support, unless moderates get behind the $US3.5 trillion bill containing new social spending.
“The mounting issues on all fronts have led to the surprise conclusion that Mr Trump is now seen as being as good a president as Mr Biden, suggesting the honeymoon is being replaced with buyer’s remorse,” Mark Penn, co-director of the survey, said.
Mr Biden also dropped to a new low of 43 per cent approval in the monthly Gallup survey, down six points from August and 14 since his inauguration in January.
Of all the presidents since World War II, only Trump has had a lower approval rating.