An aggregation poll released by FiveThirtyEight on Thursday (January 12) showed President Joe Biden’s approval rating was the highest since October 2021, reaching 44.1 percent in the most recent poll.
Biden’s latest polling figures are the highest the tracker has indicated since 2021. The last time Biden’s aggregate approval rating breached 44 percent was in the fall of 2021.
The latest polling also shows that Biden’s approval rating has climbed significantly — three percentage points in just a few weeks, when — at the end of November — Biden logged a 41.4 percent approval rating.
Biden’s approval rating has been climbing since it reached a record low in July, when it hit 37.5 percent, during ongoing stress about inflation.
The President’s approval rating has continued its upward trajectory following Democrats’ unexpectedly positive showing during the midterms.
FiveThirtyEight’s aggregate poll tracks several top polls — including polls of U.S. adults and registered voters — taking into account each poll’s recency, quality, participant sample size, and partisan lean.
Of the polls FiveThirtyEight drew data from, Biden’s highest approval rating came from a YouGov poll released last week, which placed the President’s approval at 47 percent. In comparison, a Morning Consult poll, also tracked by FiveThirtyEight, placed Biden’s approval at 42 percent.
All of the polls tracked by FiveThirtyEight conducted their surveys before Biden made headlines for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, which has dominated headlines since Monday (January 9).
The Department of Justice is currently investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents, with Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing a Special Counsel to oversee the review.
