GRINNELL, Iowa — President Joe Biden's favorability rating has decreased over the past two years, but he still leads potential rivals, according to new Grinnell College National Poll results released Wednesday.
The poll, which first launched as a pilot project in 2018, was conducted March 14 to 19 by the renowned Selzer & Co. in partnership with Grinnell College.
A total of 1,004 U.S. adults participated in the poll.
According to poll results, 39% of Americans approve of Biden's work as president, up from 36% in 2022.
“Confidence in the economy has risen, and with it, so has approval of President Biden,” said Peter Hanson, director of the Grinnell College National Poll, in a press release. “It’s the highest approval rating we’ve ever measured for the president, but still quite low by historic standards. He’s not operating from a position of strength heading into 2024.”
However, the percentage of Americans who view him favorably has dropped by 5 percentage points, while the number of Americans who view him unfavorably rose by 9 percentage points since March 2021.
“The bad news for President Biden is that his favorability numbers have fallen over the past two years,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Company, in a press release. “The good news is that he still has a higher favorability rating than anyone else tested."
In comparison, former President Donald Trump's favorability dropped by 5 percentage points since 2021, and his unfavorability rating is up by 6 points.
Among fellow Republicans, Trump maintains a narrow edge in favorability. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential hopeful, trails him by just 4 percentage points in favorability ratings.
In addition to gauging public opinion on various 2024 candidates, the poll tested the waters regarding several hot-button issues:
Politics in the classroom
57% of respondents said that it is inappropriate for public school teachers to speak their minds about politics.
However, respondents did not say the same thing about college professors. In fact, 58% of those polled said it's OK for college professors to voice their political opinions.
Book bans
43% of respondents say elected officials should not play a role in decisions about materials in school libraries.
The majority of Americans feel that religious texts (such as the Bible and the Quran), racism in America, creationism, gender identity and sexual orientation are all topics that should be a part of a public middle school library. The smallest majorities are reflected in materials about sexual orientation and gender identity.
“The importance of representation in school library materials aligns with the need to broaden content beyond one’s own community to help better understand marginalized students and provide higher levels of empathy,” said Kayla Reed, digital strategy librarian at Grinnell College, in a press release.
Gender-affirming care
Iowa is just one of a handful of states that recently passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
53% of people polled reject this type of legislation, with the most likely to oppose it being Democrats.
