Biden’s approval rating holding steady as US warms to his Ukraine response, poll finds

Broad support for president’s efforts to keep the US out of war with Russia

Americans are firmly behind President Joe Biden’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine so far but it has done little to change his overall popularity, according to a new poll released on Tuesday.

In the survey from Yahoo News/YouGov, Mr Biden’s job performance is supported by 41 per cent of respondents while 53 per cent disapprove of his handling of the presidency. That’s a loss of one percentage point in his approval rating over the last month in this poll, while his disapproval rating has not changed.

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At the same time, the poll recorded a double-digit surge in Mr Biden’s approval rating on the issue of Ukraine-Russia specifically. 31 per cent say Mr Biden’s decision to institute withering economic sanctions and other measures to isolate Russia’s economy was a correctly-proportionate response while 6 per cent said it was too tough; a similar share (36 per cent) said that his actions were not tough enough, but that number has dropped since last month as well.

Where the president has an advantage is that Americans largely appear to have made up their minds on the response to Russia’s invasion and have sided with the president’s view of the situation. Like Mr Biden, just under half (43 per cent) of Americans oppose a no-fly-zone in Ukraine with the understanding that it would require potential combat between US and Russian forces, compared to less than a quarter (23 per cent) who support the idea. And a decisive 51 per cent are opposed to sending US forces to fight Russian troops, while just 19 per cent support that idea.

The economy remains a major issue for the president, however, as 71 per cent of Americans worry that gas prices will continue to rise past already-historic levels as a result of the conflict and 55 per cent of respondents disapproved of Mr Biden’s job performance on the issue of the economy specifically. Only 37 per cent approve of the way Mr Biden is handling issues like the ongoing labour shortage, inflation, and supply chain disruptions that are continuing to affect Americans’ bottom lines.

The news is bleak for Democrats in swing districts who are facing tough battles in November but good news for a resurgent GOP that has continued to largely align itself with the former president and hope to retake one or both houses of Congress this year.

Yahoo News/YouGov’s poll collected responses from 1,623 US adults between 10-14 March. The poll’s margin of error is 2.7 percentage points.