Joe Biden is the least popular living US president, according to a new poll, as his former Republican rival Donald Trump is enjoying a bounce in his favorability rating.
The Gallup survey conducted last month found Biden, 82, is viewed unfavorably by a whopping 57% of Americans, whereas just 39% had a favorable opinion of him.
At least 60% of independents and 20% of Democrats were among those who disapproved of Biden.
By contrast, 48% of US adults have a positive impression of Trump, 78, while 50% do not.
Just 7% of Democrats have a glowing view of the current president, but 47% of independents registered a positive opinion.
“Trump’s and Biden’s ratings are essentially unchanged from those from a survey after the 2024 election, indicating neither has gotten an image boost from the news surrounding the presidential transition,” according to the survey.
“The high point in Biden’s favorability was 61% in January 2017, near the end of his vice presidency,” Gallup also notes, pointing out that the 46th president’s ratings steadily declined every month after his inauguration in January 2021.
Trump has only received higher favorability ratings twice since Gallup began tracking public perceptions of the real estate mogul, reality TV star and politician in 1999 — and is currently tied with former President Bill Clinton.
At least 50% of Americans had a favorable opinion and 38% an unfavorable opinion of Trump in 2005, when he was headlining NBC’s “The Apprentice,” and he briefly held a 48% favorable ranking in April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Clinton has far fewer people expressing a negative view of him (41%), but only received a 48% favorable rating in the most recent Gallup poll.
Meanwhile, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush notched the highest ratings of any of the living chief executives.
Nearly six in 10 (59%) of Americans have a positive opinion about Obama, and just 36% have a negative opinion.
Slightly more than half of US adults approve of Bush (52%) and 34% disapprove.
A few of the presidents caused a stir when video footage of some speaking in hushed tones — and others horsing around — went viral at the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter last month.
Trump and Obama in particular seemed intent on being able to “find a quiet place” to discuss a “matter of importance,” according to a forensic lip reader who shared his analysis with The Post, apparently on foreign policy matters.
The living ex-presidents also congregated at the US Capitol on Jan. 20 for Trump’s second inaugural ceremony.
Gallup surveyed 1,001 US adults via telephone interviews Jan. 21-27, with a margin of sampling error of plus-or-minus four percentage points.
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