A tracking poll prepared by Rasmussen Reports shows that Biden enjoyed a 47 percent approval rating on Tuesday—the first day of the 118th Congress—while 52 percent disapproved of him.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they strongly approved of the president, while 42 percent said they strongly disapproved of the job he’s doing.
Though that means Biden’s approval is still in negative territory, it is an improvement since Rasmussen Reports’ tracking poll on December 30, when just 26 percent strongly approved.
However, the December 30 numbers also showed that 51 percent of Americans disapproved of Biden—a mixed picture for the president following midterm elections where the Democrats performed better than expected.
The tracking poll was conducted among 1,500 likely voters.
On December 29, Biden’s approval rating was 46 percent in the same measure, while disapproval was 52 percent and 27 percent strongly approved of the president.
Rasmussen Reports’ figures for January 3 are the first polling numbers of the new year to be included in poll tracker FiveThirtyEight’s analysis of Biden’s approval rating, which takes into account a wide variety of polls and FiveThirtyEight’s system of pollster rating.
Biden’s approval rating was 43.4 percent on Tuesday, according to the analysis, while disapproval of the president stood at 51.3 percent. That’s a slight improvement since December 31, when Biden’s approval rating was 43.3 percent and disapproval stood at 51.3 percent.
The president has also seen his approval rise in FiveThirtyEight’s analysis over the past month, with 41.4 percent approving of Biden on December 1 compared to 53.2 percent who disapproved.
Rasmussen found that Biden’s approval rating was 43 percent on December 1 with 56 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of him. That represents a four-point move in Biden’s favor over the past month.
Biden enters 2023 with significant speculation about his political future. Though the Democratic primaries won’t begin until early 2024, the president will likely announce his intention to run for a second term before the end of the year.
Former President Donald Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign shortly after the midterm elections but Biden has not yet made a formal announcement.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling analysis found that Trump was viewed unfavorably by 54.6 percent of Americans as of December 21, while 40.5 percent had a favorable view.
The president previously indicated that he intends to run again and that Vice President Kamala Harris will be his running mate but it’s not yet clear when Biden will make his 2024 campaign official. Recent positive polling could encourage the president and his team ahead of a formal campaign.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
