Biden's approval underwater: poll

President Biden’s approval rating remains underwater as the president prepares for an anticipated reelection bid, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released Friday exclusively to The Hill.

The poll found that 42 percent of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat approve” of Biden’s job as president, including 12 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of independents. 

The president’s approval rating has remained at 42 percent since December, dropping 1 point since November, when it was at 43 percent. 

While Biden received higher marks for reacting to the coronavirus pandemic — 52 percent — and 46 percent approving of his job stimulating jobs, he received lower marks for handling inflation (36 percent), immigration (37 percent) and the economy (38 percent).

Close to two-thirds of Americans — 61 percent — say the country is on the wrong track, while 66 percent of respondents say the country’s economy is also on the wrong track.

“The economy and immigration continue to be weak spots for Biden and on top of that has come the classified document imbroglio that has taken away the post midterm glow. His state of the union is a critical speech for him and whether he will reach across the aisle,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll.

The development comes as Biden is anticipated to announce his reelection campaign in the coming months. But revelations that classified documents from his time as vice president were found at an old office he used at the Penn Biden Center in addition to his home in Wilmington, Del., have complicated his reelection prospects. 

The president told reporters on Thursday that “there’s no there there,” though his administration has received scrutiny regarding why the documents — the initial batch of which was found just days before the November midterms — had not been publicized sooner. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey was conducted Jan. 18-19 with 2,050 registered voters surveyed. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.