Biden Approaching 100 Days in Office, Approval Rating in the 50% Range... "Lower Than Obama and Bush" (Summary)

"Honeymoon Effect Hard to Exclude"...Evaluation Not High
Support for Major Issues Beyond COVID-19 Response in the 30% Range
Only 9% of Republican Supporters Back It...Serious Division in the US

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunwoo Lee and Hyunui Cho] As President Joe Biden approaches his 100th day in office, his approval rating has surpassed the halfway mark. Although higher than former President Donald Trump’s rating, it is considered somewhat disappointing when excluding the bipartisan "honeymoon effect" typically seen in U.S. politics during the first 100 days of a presidency.

While Biden has received positive evaluations for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, his approval rating among Republican supporters remains in the single digits, highlighting a limitation. How the Biden administration will achieve national unity is expected to become a major challenge moving forward.

◇Vaccine Success, But...

According to foreign media including Bloomberg on the 25th (local time), major U.S. news organizations conducted polls ahead of Biden’s 100th day in office on the 29th, showing his approval rating exceeding 50%. The joint survey by The Washington Post (WP) and ABC recorded 52%, followed by NBC News (53%), Fox News (54%), and CBS News (58%), all surpassing 50%.

This is higher than former President Donald Trump’s rating around his 100th day (40%), but lower than former Presidents Barack Obama (61%) and George W. Bush (57%).

Although considered a decent performance domestically, the evaluation is somewhat disappointing. Jeff Horwitt, a Democratic pollster at Hart Research who conducted the NBC News survey, stated, "It is unclear whether this result will end as a honeymoon effect or if the approval rating will continue. It is difficult to interpret this as a high approval rating early in the term."

In specific areas, Biden received high marks for COVID-19 response. NBC’s poll showed 69% approval for handling the pandemic, the highest among categories, with other polls also showing over 60% support. According to Our World in Data, the U.S. has a first-dose vaccination rate of 42.2% of the total population, ranking third globally after Israel (62.1%) and the United Kingdom (49.4%).

On the same day, the European Union (EU) announced it would allow vaccinated Americans to visit Europe. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, explained in an interview with The New York Times (NYT) that "all vaccines administered to Americans have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)," enabling free movement and tourism within EU member states.

◇Failing Grades Except for COVID-19

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

However, excluding vaccination achievements, approval ratings in key policy areas were low. Support for the Biden administration’s China policy stood at 35%, gun control at 34%, and border security and immigration issues at 33%.

These issues are of great interest to Republican supporters, who are demanding more proactive and tougher policies from the Biden administration. Biden’s approval rating among Republican supporters remains stagnant. According to NBC News, while approval among Democrats is high at 90% and 61% among independents, it remains in the single digits at 9% among Republicans.

Most voters participating in the polls also view national unity as a serious issue. In the NBC News survey, 82% of respondents considered division within the U.S. a serious problem, with 60-80% across most polls indicating that resolving the division issue promptly is necessary.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.