Biden’s popularity rises slightly as coronavirus cases fall: Reuters/Ipsos poll

October 8, 2021

By Chris Kahn

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval rating has increased somewhat over the past few weeks, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, as coronavirus infection rates slowed.

The latest national public opinion poll, conducted Oct. 6-7, found that 48% of U.S. adults approved of Biden’s performance in office, which is up by 4 percentage points from a similar poll that ran in mid-September.

Meanwhile 47% disapproved of Biden in the latest survey, which is down 3 points from the September poll.  

The rise in Biden’s approval has mirrored a recent drop in U.S. coronavirus cases. A Reuters tally shows there are a little more than 100,000 reported cases on average each day, which is 40% of the peak infection rate in January.

The president’s standing with the American public recently has been entwined with the state of the U.S. pandemic.

Many voters supported Biden’s presidential bid in 2020 because they thought he would be better than former President Donald Trump at pulling the country out of the health crisis. And since he was elected, Biden has routinely received higher levels of support for his response to the coronavirus than for other parts of his agenda.

When the Delta variant drove up infection rates around the country this summer, Biden’s approval numbers took a hit.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll is conducted online in English throughout the United States. The latest poll gathered responses from a total of 1,005 adults, including 414 Democrats and 365 Republicans. It has a credibility interval – a measure of precision – of 4 percentage points.

(Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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