WASHINGTON (AP) – Two weeks after a new administration, most Americans say they have at least some confidence in President Joe Biden and his ability to handle the countless crises facing the nation, including the furious pandemic of coronavirus.
Overall, 61% approve of handling Biden’s work in his first days in office, according to a new survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While most of Biden’s support is from fellow Democrats, about a quarter of Republicans say they approve of his first days in office.
Even at a time of deep national divisions, these figures suggest that Biden, as with most of his recent predecessors, may enjoy a bit of a honeymoon period. According to Gallup polls, almost all modern presidents have garnered an average approval rating of 55% or higher during their first three months in office. There was one exception: Donald Trump, the approval rating never exceeded 50% in Gallup polls, even at the beginning of his presidency.
Biden’s presence with the public will quickly face significant evidence. He inherited from Trump an out-of-control pandemic, a slow deployment of crucial vaccines, deep economic uncertainty and the dissenting aftermath of the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. It is a historical confluence of crises that historians have compared to what Abraham Lincoln faced on the eve of the Civil War or Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the depths of the Great Depression.
Biden advisers know the new president will be tried quickly by Americans for his treatment of the pandemic, which has killed more than 450,000 people. In the United States, Congress urges Congress to approve $ 1.9 trillion aid package which would include funds for vaccine distribution, school reopening, and state and local governments tightening under the strain of the pandemic.
“We have to be big, not small,” Biden told House Democrats on Tuesday. He noted that he is open to cutting his $ 1.9 trillion proposal, but not as far as some Republicans expect. A group of GOP senators has unveiled its own $ 618 billion package.
About three-quarters of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to fight the pandemic, while about a quarter have almost none. However, this confidence is measured; no more than 4 out of 10 say they have “a lot” of confidence in Biden to handle any questions asked in the survey.
From the beginning, Biden has tried to differentiate his approach from the pandemic and from governing in general from that of Trump. He has empowered public health officials and other experts, putting them in charge of briefings on COVID-19 and other political issues, unlike the former president, who often clashed with members of his coronavirus working group..
According to the AP-NORC survey, about eight out of ten trust at least Biden to incorporate the advice of experts and advisers into their decision-making. About three-quarters have great confidence or some confidence in Biden’s ability to effectively manage the White House.
A December AP-NORC survey showed that Americans identified the pandemic and the economy as their top priorities for the U.S. government in 2021. The two issues are directly related, to the pandemic that plagues companies across the country and creates economic uncertainty. as states and cities face public health restrictions.
About two-thirds of Americans say they have at least some confidence in Biden’s ability to manage the economy and jobs. This is similar to his assessments of the public in terms of his focus on health care, racial relations and climate change.
In his first two weeks in office, Biden has signed a storm of executive orders on these political and other priorities, primarily aimed at undoing actions of the Trump administration. Among them: rejoining the Paris climate deal, stopping new leases of oil and gas on public land, and reversing the travel ban from the Trump era to people from various predominantly Muslim countries.
But executive actions they have an inherently limited scope, and Biden needs Congress to step in to help him get past the more general aspects of his agenda. He has the smallest Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, which means he will need some Republican support for his agenda or will have to promote rule changes that will allow legislation to be passed with fewer votes.
Only 20% of Americans say they have a lot of confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Republicans in Congress, although another 45% say they have some confidence.
Tom Tierney, 65, of Richland, Washington, voted for Biden in November and said he was skeptical about Republicans’ willingness to work with the new president. He urged Biden not to waste time if Republican Party leaders keep their agenda.
“I think Biden will have to play hard ball and say, you know what, you don’t want to compromise,” said Tierney, who described himself as a moderate independent.
Biden was already facing huge winds after winning the election, but the crises facing the country escalated after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. The insurgency revealed the extent to which Trump’s fake attacks on the integrity of the election it had resonated with his supporters and the threat it posed to the nation’s democratic institutions.
In his inaugural speech, Biden noted both the durability and fragility of American democracy, a message especially noted given that he spoke from the very steps of the Capitol that pro-Trump troops had overcome two weeks earlier.
The majority of Americans (70%) say Biden respects the country’s democratic institutions.
Miguel Castillo, 39, of Columbus, Georgia, voted for Trump in 2020 and has not been impressed by Biden’s early moves. Still, he said he has hope for the good of the country that the new president will succeed.
“Whatever he does, it affects all of us as Americans,” Castillo said. “I hope your presidency is a good presidency. I don’t want it to fail. Honestly, no. ”
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,055 adults was conducted from January 28 to February. 1 using a sample extracted from the AmeriSpeak panel based on NORC probabilities, designed to be representative of the American population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is approximately 3.8 percentage points.
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AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.