Joe Biden’s approval rating has reached the lowest point of his presidency, with more than half of voters unhappy with the way he is handling the conflict between Hamas and Israel, according to an NBC News poll released on Sunday.
With less than a year to go before the 2024 presidential election, just 40% of American voters approve of the job Biden is doing in his post, compared to 57% who disapprove of his performance, the poll found. While Biden’s overall approval rating dropped only 1% from September numbers, there was a seismic shift in support among voters ages 18 to 34, which plummeted from 46% to 31%.
In another low for Biden, only 33% of Americans are satisfied with his foreign policy, down from 41% in September. When it comes to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, which started in early October, only 34% approve of the way the US president is handling the crisis, while 56% disapprove. People aged 18-34 were again the most unhappy with their president on this issue, with a whopping 70% saying Biden is doing a poor job.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies told NBC that he could not recall the last time foreign policy had such an impact on the domestic American political landscape, calling the poll “a stunner.”
Against this backdrop, Biden found himself lagging behind former US President Donald Trump, who is widely regarded as his main rival in the next election. According to the poll, 46% of voters would prefer to support Trump while 44% would endorse Biden. A recent New York Times/Siena College survey found that the incumbent is currently trailing Trump in five out of six battleground states.
In recent weeks, Biden’s approach to the Hamas-Israel conflict has been heavily criticized not only by the general public, but also by some officials within his own administration. An internal State Department memo obtained by Axios last week, which was signed by more than 100 diplomats and USAID employees, accused Biden of “spreading misinformation” about the conflict, claimed that the Israelis were committing “war crimes” against Palestinians and urged the US leader to call for a ceasefire between the two belligerents – something that Biden has been reluctant to do.