President Joe Biden's executive order on asylum claims has not moved his overall approval rating, according to a new Monmouth University Poll released Wednesday.
Biden's sagging approval rating remains lower than the public's memory of how former President Donald Trump performed, even though more people supported than opposed his border announcement.
The poll found 40% of Americans favor the order, while 27% oppose it, and another 33% do not have an opinion.
However, support is spread evenly among the political parties, including 44% of Republicans, 40% of Democrats, and 38% of independents.
Public opinion of Biden's border action also came out slightly higher than prior polls of immigration proposals from House Speaker Mike Johnson in April (35% for and 23% against) and from a bipartisan group in the Senate from February (23% favored and 33% opposed).
Meanwhile, most Republicans said Biden's action is not tough enough, with 73% of those who said they favored it not thinking it suffices, and 86% of those who oppose it thinking it is not tough enough.
"Biden will never be able to satisfy Republicans on border policy," Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, wrote in his analysis. "The real question is whether he can neutralize this issue among independents without alienating certain Democrats.
"These initial public opinion results suggest he may have achieved some of that, but it's not a clear political win by any stretch."
Biden's job performance ratings, however, dropped from April (38% approving now and 42% in April), compared to 58% disapproving now and 55% disapproving in April.
Trump, however, had a 47% approval and 50% disapproval rating in the current poll after having been in the low 40s while he was still in office.
The opinions of Biden and Trump were polarized between the parties:
- 91% of Republicans disapprove of Biden; 87% approved of Trump.
- 85% of Democrats approved of Biden; 87% disapproved of Trump.
- 29% of independents approved of Biden, compared to 44% for Trump.
"If reelection bids are a referendum of presidential job performance, 2024 presents a unique case with two officeholders on the ballot, and that is posing a problem for Biden," according to Murray.
Meanwhile, Congress received a job rating of 14% approve and 82% disapproving, which has remained virtually unchanged since the current session got underway in 2023.
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted June 6-10 among 1,106 adults and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.