Aug. 18, 2021: Biden’s approval rating drops below 50

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POLITICO

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🗓️ 18 August 2021

⏱️ 7 minutes

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Summary

President Joe Biden's average approval rating is below 50% for the first time this year. 538: 49.8% … RCP: 49.4% The dip has been driven by a slow erosion among independents that seems tied to the Delta surge and predates the problems in Afghanistan. It also may be inevitable. FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley: “We don’t know the range in which Biden’s approval will ultimately settle, but if the past two presidents are any indication, it’ll be a narrow one: Donald Trump’s approval mostly hovered between 40 and 45 percent during his presidency, while Barack Obama’s approval tended to fall between 45 and 50 percent.” And, in the coming days we’re going to be picking out the most consequential proposals in the infrastructure plan and digging into the politics of these policies. But first we want to hear from you. What policies do you most want to see unpacked? What are the political crosscurrents that you’re witnessing from your perch at, say, a House committee, Cabinet agency or outside interest group? What policies are the most vulnerable and unlikely to survive the sausage-making process? What are the hidden land mines in Build Back Better? Send us your scoops, insights, requests and tips at playbook@politico.com. We’ll keep it all confidential, and it will help us cover this unprecedented period of legislating in Washington. Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Presented by Climate Power
0:01.5	Good morning, Playbookers.
0:04.4	It's Wednesday, August 18th.
0:06.2	I'm Ruggabunovanovalin, and this is your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.
0:14.8	Let's get you the latest on Afghanistan with the roundup of headlines from the New York Times.
0:19.8	Lawmakers urged Biden to postpone full
0:21.8	troop withdrawal until Afghan allies are evacuated. The Washington Post, withdrawal from Afghanistan
0:27.5	forces allies and adversaries to reconsider America's global rule. Associated Press, US agencies scrub
0:34.4	websites to protect Afghans left behind.
0:42.4	Wall Street Journal, US halted dollar shipments to Afghanistan to keep cash out of Taliban's hands.
0:48.2	This story from Bloomberg, US reaffirms commitment to Taiwan after leaving Afghanistan, and Politico.
0:52.0	Taliban takeover leaves Afghan diplomats in Washington limbo. You can read those stories and more in today's playbook.
0:59.0	President Joe Biden's approval rating has dropped below 50% for the first time during his presidency.
1:05.0	Your first thought might be it's because of the situation in Afghanistan, but polling actually predates this week's problems there.
1:11.4	The dip has been driven by a slow erosion among independents that seems tied to the delta
1:15.9	surge. A drop below 50% might also just be inevitable. This comes from 538's Jeffrey Skelly.
1:22.5	We don't know the range in which Biden's approval will ultimately settle, but if the past
1:26.6	two presidents are any indication, it'll be a narrow one. Donald Trump's approval will ultimately settle, but if the past two presidents are any indication,
1:28.7	it'll be a narrow one. Donald Trump's approval mostly hovered between 40 and 45% and Barack Obama's
1:34.8	approval tended to fall between 45 and 50%. But it has Biden backers concerned about 2022.
1:41.8	New York Magazine's Ed Kilgoor wrote this,
1:43.5	The 46th president and his allies should probably stop worrying about his approval ratings
	...

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