CNN Poll: Biden leaves office with his approval rating matching the lowest of his term

President Joe Biden will leave office with his approval rating remaining at the lowest level of his term and his favorability rating close to his personal low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Americans broadly view Biden’s four years in office more as a failure than as a success, with his administration doing little to turn around persistent negativity about the state of the country generally or about its economy.

President Joe Biden will leave office with his approval rating remaining at the lowest level of his term and his favorability rating close to his personal low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Americans broadly view Biden’s four years in office more as a failure than as a success, with his administration doing little to turn around persistent negativity about the state of the country generally or about its economy. Overall, 36% of US adults say they approve of the way Biden handled the presidency, matching his previous low mark in CNN polling during his term, with even fewer rating his performance positively on immigration (31%), foreign affairs (32%) or the economy (33%). His strongest issues in terms of approval ratings still prompt net-negative results, with less than half saying they approve of the way he protected American democracy (46%), handled environmental policy (44%) or dealt with health care policies (43%). Biden’s favorability rating, a measure of personal feelings rather than job performance, stands at 33% favorable to 58% unfavorable, just one point off his previous low in CNN polling since he became vice president under Barack Obama in 2009 (he reached that 32% in June 2023). His favorability rating has been mired in the low 30s for much of the past two years. First lady Jill Biden leaves the White House with a largely neutral favorability rating, about the same as it has been since 2022 – 33% view her favorably and 31% unfavorably with 35% unsure how they feel about her. Vice President Kamala Harris leaves office with a higher favorability rating than she held shortly before her July entry into last year’s presidential race following Biden’s announcement that he would drop out of the race – 39% have a favorable view now compared with 29% in June – but perceptions of her are still underwater, with about half holding a negative view (50%). At the outset of the Biden presidency in January 2021, Harris’ ratings stood at 51% favorable to 39% unfavorable. Most Americans, 61%, say they see Biden’s presidency overall as a failure, with 38% viewing it as a success. That lags far behind two presidencies largely seen as successful: Bill Clinton’s (68% considered it a success in 2000) and Barack Obama’s (65% rated it a success in early 2017). Biden’s time in office stands above George W. Bush’s, though, which 68% of Americans judged as more of a failure than a success when he left office in 2009.