Biden made less progress on defense, immigration and debt than the last three presidents: poll
President Biden did less to improve the nation’s defenses, immigration situation and federal debt than any of his three White House predecessors, according to a new survey of US voters.
A Gallup poll conducted last month found Americans ranked Biden, 82, far beneath Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush on critical foreign and domestic policy markers — despite the lame-duck president frequently deploying superlatives to describe his administration.
“I put together one of the most competent foreign policy teams in American history,” Biden said Monday of his efforts during remarks at the State Department.
“I believe the economy I’m leaving is the best in the world and stronger than ever for all Americans,” he also said Friday at the White House.
On national defense and the military, however, Biden recorded a net negative -19% rating, lower than Trump (+25%), Obama (-9%) and Bush (+3%).
Four in 10 Americans believe the US lost ground on national defense under Biden, who ordered the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan and allowed a Chinese spy balloon to travel over the entire continental US before it was shot down.
A whopping 51% of Americans also said they felt Biden went backward on immigration, while far fewer said the same of Bush (-37%), Trump (-19%) and Obama (-18%).
“Look, let’s get something in mind about the border. When I became president, the numbers came way down,” Biden told reporters earlier this month, though the number of migrants who crossed the border into the US surged in his first three years to reach an all-time high by the end of 2023.
Only 13% of respondents felt immigration improved under the current commander in chief.
But the majority of respondents to the Gallup survey believe Biden lost the most ground when it came to addressing the federal debt, which stands at more than $36 trillion.
Biden scored a net negative -56% on the way he handled the federal debt — worse than Obama’s -36% and Trump’s -45% ratings. The survey conducted after the Bush presidency did not ask about the federal debt.
The only area where the outgoing president earned a net positive rating was on “the situation for gay, lesbian and transgender people” at 16%, which was far less than Obama’s 52% positive rating. Meanwhile, Trump received a 4% positive rating in terms of progress made for LGBT Americans.
Biden (-32%) outperformed Bush (-57%) in terms of the US’s position in the world and the economy, with the latter leaving office during the 2008 financial crisis.
The 46th president barely surpassed Obama’s rating on crime, with the 44th president recording a -35% net negative rating, compared with Biden’s -32%.
Trump’s -13% rating on crime was the best among the last four presidents.
Biden, who has spent 48 of the last 52 years in public office, will leave the White House on Jan. 20 when Trump, 78, is inaugurated as president.
The survey comes a week after a separate Gallup poll found that more than half of Americans believe Biden will be remembered by history as a “poor” to “below average” commander in chief.
The Gallup survey released on Jan. 7 found that 37% expect Biden to be regarded as a “below average” president, while 17% indicated that the 82-year-old commander in chief will be remembered as a “poor” leader of the US.
Only 6% of US adults responded that history would remember Biden as an “outstanding” president and 13% thought his legacy would be regarded as “above average.”
Another 26% said Biden will go down in history as just an “average” president.
