WASHINGTON (AP) – Two weeks after the start of a new administration, a majority of Americans say they have at least some faith in President Joe Biden and his ability to manage the myriad crises facing the nation, including the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, 61% approve of Biden handling his job during his first days in the office, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While most of Biden’s support comes from fellow Democrats, about a quarter of Republicans say they approve of his early days.
Even at a time of deep national divisions, those numbers suggest that, as with most of his recent predecessors, Biden may be experiencing a honeymoon period. According to a Gallup poll, nearly all modern presidents have received an approval rating of an average of 55% or higher in the first three months. There was one exception: Donald Trump, whose approval score never surpassed 50% in Gallup polls, even at the beginning of his presidency.
Biden’s reputation with the public will soon face significant testing. He inherited from Trump a pandemic that got out of hand, a slow rollout of critical vaccines, deep economic uncertainty and the shocking consequences of the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. It is a historical confluence of crises that historians have likened to what Abraham Lincoln faced on the eve of the Civil War or Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the depths of the Great Depression.
Biden’s advisers know the new president will soon be judged by Americans for his handling of the pandemic, which killed more than 450,000 people in the US, he urges Congress to approve a $ 1.9 trillion aid package that includes funds for the distribution of vaccines, the reopening of schools and the collapse of state and local governments under the pressure of the pandemic.
“We need to be big, not small,” Biden told House Democrats on Tuesday. He has indicated that he is willing to cut his $ 1.9 trillion proposal, but not as far as some Republicans hope. A group of GOP senators have proposed their own $ 618 billion package.
About three quarters of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the pandemic, while about a quarter barely have one. Yet that confidence is measured – no more than about 4 in 10 say they have “a lot” of faith in Biden to solve whatever problem the poll asks about.
From the outset, Biden has sought to differentiate his approach to the pandemic and administration as a whole from Trump’s. He has empowered public health officials and other experts, putting them on the forefront of briefings on COVID-19 and other policy issues, unlike the former president, who often clashed with members of his coronavirus task force.
According to the AP-NORC survey, about 8 in 10 have at least some confidence in Biden to include the advice of experts and advisers in their decision-making. About three-quarters have much or some faith in Biden’s ability to run the White House effectively.
A December AP-NORC poll showed that Americans saw the pandemic and the economy as their top priorities for the US government in 2021. The two issues are directly related to the pandemic mistreatment of businesses across the country and the creation of economic uncertainty as states and cities grapple with public health restrictions.
About two-thirds of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to tackle the economy and the jobs. That’s comparable to his audience ratings of his approach to health care, race relations and climate change.
In his first two weeks in office, Biden has signed a blizzard of executive orders on those policy priorities and others, largely focused on undoing actions by the Trump administration. Among them: re-joining the Paris climate accord, breaking new oil and gas leases on public land, and overturning a Trump-era travel ban on people from different Muslim countries.
But executive actions are inherently limited in scope, and Biden needs Congress to step in to help him get through the more sweeping aspects of his agenda. He has the narrowest Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, which means he either needs some Republican backing for his agenda or has to make rule changes that would allow legislation to pass with fewer votes.
Only 20% of Americans say they have great confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Republicans in Congress, although an additional 45% say they are somewhat confident.
Tom Tierney, 65, of Richland, Washington, voted for Biden in November, saying he was skeptical about the Republicans’ willingness to work with the new president. He urged Biden not to waste time if GOP leaders hold up his agenda.
“I think Biden will have to play hard eventually and say, you know what, you guys don’t really want to compromise,” said Tierney, who described himself as a moderate independent.
Biden already faced massive headwinds after winning the election, but the crises the country faced escalated after the uprising in the Capitol on January 6. The uprising revealed the extent to which Trump’s false attacks on the integrity of the election had resonated with his supporters and the threat posed to the country’s democratic institutions.
In his inaugural address, Biden noted both the sustainability and fragility of American democracy, a particularly sharp message given that he was speaking from the same Capitol steps that had been overrun by the pro-Trump crowd just two weeks earlier.
A majority of Americans – 70% – say they think Biden respects the country’s democratic institutions.
Miguel Castillo, 39, of Columbus, Georgia, voted for Trump in 2020 and was unimpressed with Biden’s opening move. Still, he said he is hopeful in the country’s interest that the new president will succeed.
“Whatever he does, it affects all of us as Americans,” said Castillo. “I hope his presidency is a good presidency. I don’t want him to fail. I honestly don’t. “
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,055 adults was conducted January 28 through February. 1 using a sample drawn from NORC’s Probability-Based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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Online:
AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.