Biden’s approval rating drops post election, poll finds. Is that normal for lame ducks?
President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has dropped to a near-record low since the 2024 election — a phenomenon that is not unprecedented for lame duck presidents, according to new polling.
Just 37% of Americans now approve of Biden’s performance in office, down from 41% in October, the latest Gallup poll found.
The latest figure is just one point above Biden’s lowest-ever rating of 36%, which came in July, shortly before he withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination.
The recent decline is mainly attributed to independents, 38% of whom approved of Biden in October, while 32% approved of him in November. In contrast, 80% of Democrats and 7% of Republicans approved of Biden’s performance in November.
When it came to his handling of specific issues, the president’s recent ratings were not enviable either.
Just 30% of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of foreign affairs in November, a record-low. And 38% approved of his performance on the economy, which dipped to a low of 31% in August 2022.
The poll, conducted between Nov. 6 and 20, sampled 1,001 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Comparing Biden to past presidents
Biden’s post-election drop in support does have some precedent.
Of the dozen lame-duck presidents since 1952, half saw their approval ratings improve following the presidential election, while three saw declines and three saw no change.
In addition to Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and former President Jimmy Carter were the only presidents to experience lower approval ratings in the immediate wake of an election.
In 2020, Trump’s approval rating dropped from 46% to 43% after the election. It continued to slide even further as he refused to concede the election.
Carter, who was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, saw his approval rating drop from 37% to 31% following the election.
Three presidents experienced no major changes in their approval ratings following their last election: Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.
In contrast, six presidents saw a boost in their approval ratings in the wake of their last election. These were: Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
George H.W. Bush, who lost his reelection bid to Clinton, had the largest post-election bump in his approval rating — jumping from 34% to 43%.
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Biden’s approval rating drops post election, poll finds. Is that normal for lame ducks?."