Support for Biden erodes among Democrats as U.S. looks past pandemic:
Reuters/Ipsos poll
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[June 30, 2021]
By Chris Kahn
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe
Biden has seen an erosion in support since April, mainly from fellow
Democrats, as his administration wrestles with Congress to make good on
campaign promises and more Americans worry about an uneven economic
recovery, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.
A June 11-17 national opinion poll shows Biden is still more popular
than his Republican predecessor Donald Trump ever was: 55% of adults
approve of Biden's performance in office and 65% like his response to
the coronavirus pandemic. At this point four years ago, about 36% of
adults approved of Trump's job performance.
However, a growing number of Americans disapprove of Biden's leadership
on the economy, gun violence and taxation, with the biggest decline
coming within Biden's Democratic Party , especially those under the age
of 40, non-white Democrats or those who do not have a college degree.
The economy has replaced healthcare and disease as a top concern, with
nearly a quarter of adults who were polled calling it the most important
problem. A majority of Americans are worried about rising living costs,
and the public is almost evenly split over how much the government
should do to make things better, according to the poll.
Forty-eight percent of respondents said they approved of Biden’s
handling of the economy, which is down 4 points from a similar survey
that ran in April. The number of Americans who disapproved of Biden’s
economic record rose 4 points to 43%.
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Democratic pollster Ryan Pougiales said a lot of people still feel like
they are far from back to normal.
"There’s a huge impatience" with the economy, Pougiales said.
"Everyone’s been bottled up in their homes. Many have lost their jobs or
lost loved ones."
Just 35% of the country thinks the U.S. economy is headed in the right
direction, and 44% say they are "very concerned" that prices will keep
rising, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Among Democrats, 78% said they approved of Biden's economic agenda, down
7 points from April, while the number of Democrats who disapproved of
his economic plan rose 6 points to 15%. That includes an 11-point drop
in approval among Democrats under 40 years old, an 8-point drop in
approval among minority Democrats and Democrats without a college
degree.
Despite an expected 7% growth in the economy this year, government
statistics show the post-pandemic jobs recovery has been lagging most
among racial and ethnic minorities and those without a college
education.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment within the
Black community was 9.1% as of May, for example, compared to 5.1% for
whites. Unemployment for college degree holders was 3.2% in May, less
than half the 6.8% unemployment rate for those with only a high school
diploma.
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![](../images/063021pics/news_f5.jpg)
President Joe Biden waves inside W.S. Jenks & Son hardware store as
he visits the small business that has benefited from the Paycheck
Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to businesses
negatively impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in
Washington, U.S., March 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
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BIDEN'S CHALLENGES
The challenge for Biden will be to find workable solutions while
keeping his party together, including many Democrats who initially
favored more liberal candidates like U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, as
well as racial minorities and people with less higher education.
"He's in a delicate position with respect to the economy," said
Donald Green, a political scientist at Columbia University. "His
coalition ranges from people in high tech sectors to suburban swing
voters to more traditional Democrats. They all want different things
from the economy."
Meanwhile, the number of Americans who approved of Biden’s stance on
gun violence dropped 8 points overall and 11 points among Democrats
from April to June.
The eroding support for Biden coincides with Democrats struggling to
pass major parts of his agenda in Congress. They failed this month
to generate enough support for federal voting rights legislation,
and the future of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan is still in
flux after months of negotiations with Republicans.
Biden also faces growing impatience from gun safety activists who
want the president to make good on a series of campaign promises to
stem an "epidemic" of gun violence. He pledged this month to go
after illegal gun dealers and boost federal funding and support for
local law enforcement as homicide rates have spiked in large cities.
Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said
many Americans remain fixated on the coronavirus, an area where
Biden remains strong. As the pandemic recedes, the economy will
continue to recover, and that would be a win for Biden, Kamarck
said.
"Right now, the dynamic is: you handle the virus, and you handle the
economy," she said.
(Reporting by Chris Kahn in New York; Additional reporting by Howard
Schneider in Washington; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Grant McCool)
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