Joe Biden's Approval Rating Falls to All-Time Low

President Joe Biden has recorded a lower average 13th quarter approval rating than any other president in recent history, according to polls.

Biden's 13th quarter in office, which began on January 20 and ended on April 19, saw the president record an all-time low average approval rating of 38.7 percent, according to Gallup.

The results are the latest warning sign about Biden's chances of entering a second term. The incumbent has long faced concerns about his age and poor approval ratings heading into November's election when he is poised to face off against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Biden's 38.7 percent average approval rating in the 13th quarter is lower than any of the previous nine U.S. presidents whose first term coincided with the same period, dating back to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953.

Biden's most recent quarterly average approval rating is down slightly from the previous quarter's score of 39.0 percent and 40 percent in the 11th quarter.

The falling average approval rating for Biden arrived after seeing a near all-time low of 38 percent in the most recent Gallup poll, conducted April 1-22. The lowest rating Biden has recorded in Gallup polls was 37 percent in April 2023.

The low average approval rating in the 13th quarter arrived as the president has received frequent criticism for his response to Israel's war in Gaza. The latest quarter has coincided with pro-Palestinian protests starting at New York's Columbia University breaking out across the nation.

"In this election year, when Biden is hoping U.S. voters reward him with a second term, he is needing some positive momentum to put him in a stronger position to be reelected. However, that didn't occur during the past three months, with Americans no more positive about how Biden is doing his job than they were in his prior quarter, or for most of the past three years," Gallup senior editor Jeffrey M. Jones wrote while sharing the polling group's latest results.

"This is the case even after Biden delivered his election-year State of the Union speech in March, a chance for him to sell his accomplishments directly to the American people.

"With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent, and thus faces a taller task than they did in getting reelected."

Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign via email for comment.

Former President George H.W. Bush had the previous low 13th-quarter average approval rating of 41.8 percent in 1992.

Trump, Biden's predecessor and 2024 rival, averaged 46.8 percent during the same period. Barack Obama recorded a lower average approval rating in his 13th quarter than Trump (45.9 percent).

Jimmy Carter is the only other president who scored a below 50 percent average in his 13th quarter since Eisenhower. Carter, Bush and Trump all lost their reelection bids, having recorded a below 50 percent average approval rating this far into their first term in office, with just Obama going on to win a second term.

The Gallup average results do not include John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated before he reached his 13th quarter, nor his successor Lyndon B. Johnson, who was in his second term by the time of his 13th quarter.

Gerald Ford, who succeeded Richard Nixon as president after he resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, also did not reach a 13th quarter during his one term in office.