President Biden’s job-approval rating is dropping due to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and a resurgence of COVID-19 at home, according to two new polls released Sunday.
The president’s approval rating fell eight percentage points from July in a CBS News/YouGov survey, to 50%. His rating fell to 49% in an NBC News poll, down from 53% in April and the first time Mr. Biden has dropped below 50% in that survey.
The new polls track with an earlier Reuters survey, which found the president’s job-approval rating fell seven percentage points in the last week as the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan.
The U.S. military said Sunday it has evacuated about 25,100 people from Kabul since Aug. 14.
Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the NBC News survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, said the pandemic and the crisis in Afghanistan have produced a “summer of discontent” for Mr. Biden.
“The promise of April has led to the peril of August,” Mr. Horwitt said, asserting that COVID-19 has hurt Mr. Biden’s numbers more than Afghanistan. “It is the domestic storm, Covid’s delta wave, that is causing more difficulties at this stage here at home and for President Biden.”
The NBC News poll found that 53% of Americans approved of the president’s handling of the coronavirus, a 16-point drop from April. On the economy, 47% approve of his handling, a 5-point decline from the spring.
On Afghanistan, only 25% approved of Mr. Biden’s handling of the crisis, while 60% disapproved.
In the CBS News poll, 53% of respondents disapproved of Mr. Biden’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops, American citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan. In July, 40% disapproved of his handling of the withdrawal.
A total of 74% of respondents believe the withdrawal has gone very badly or somewhat badly.
The margin of error was plus/minus 2.3 points in the CBS poll, which was conducted Aug. 18-20. The margin of error was 3.1 points in the NBC News survey, which was conducted Aug. 14-17.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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