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- President Joe Biden just hit an all-time low in one approval-rating tracker.
- According to FiveThirtyEight, Biden's approval rating Monday was the lowest of his presidency.
- Previous dips in his approval rating came when gas prices spiked and the US withdrew from Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden's approval rating remains severely underwater just under five months before Americans will render their verdict on his reelection bid.
On Monday, Biden notched the unpleasant distinction of recording his lowest-ever mark in FiveThirtyEight's weighted tracker, which found he had a 37.4% approval rating.
This comes as polling shows worrying signs that his support among nonwhite voters is falling. Some progressives have also hammered the White House over its response to Israel's handling of the war in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas' October 7 attack.
Biden's approval rating cratered after the US's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and has never recovered. His previous low came in July 2022, around the time gas prices hit over $5 a gallon.
In comparison, former President Donald Trump's favorability rating has increased slightly since he left office in the wake of the Capitol riot. According to FiveThirtyEight's weighted average, Trump has a 41.6% favorability rating. Trump is facing a perilous future after becoming the first-ever former president to be convicted of a felony.
Neither Trump nor Biden is widely popular, which may be a reflection of the hyperpartisan political era. In 2016, Gallup found that Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were the least-popular presidential candidates dating back to when the pollster began measuring it in 1956.
Biden's lower popularity puts him at significant risk of losing in November. Gallup's poll found Biden's approval rating for the 13th quarter of his term, which ended on April 18, is lower than any other president's since its polling began with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Four other modern presidents had an average sub-50% approval rating at this same point in time. Only one, Barack Obama, won reelection. Trump, whose Gallup average was 46.8% at this time in 2020, lost to Biden that November.
The president is hoping that he can change the narrative this month as he's expected to increase his campaigning. He also pushed for a June debate, the earliest-ever faceoff between two major presidential candidates. The debate, hosted by CNN, is scheduled for June 27.