Biden job approval rating drops to 50% in Gallup poll, his lowest to date, though he remains in positive territory

• President Joe Biden's job approval rating has dropped to 50%, a new low.
• However, some erosion was expected and Biden still has a positive favorability rating.
• Biden's first-quarter job approval rating averaged 56%, while his second-quarter average was 53.3%.

President Joe Biden's job approval rating has dropped to 50%, a new low, down from 56%, according to the most recent Gallup opinion poll.

The drop of 6 percentage points from the June poll to the latest poll was reflected in the latest survey of 1,007 adults taken between July 6 and July 21.

In the most recent poll, 45% of respondents disapproved of Biden's job performance, while 5% did not express an opinion.

Biden's approval decline comes as the nation seems to have hit a wall in increasing vaccination rates, along with the growing unease about the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and concerns about inflation.

In Washington, the Senate has made enormous progress on a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, but the legislation has not cleared the chamber yet, and Democrats also hope to push through a separate party-line $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill through the budget reconciliation process.

While Biden still enjoys overwhelming support among Democrats, at 90% approval, his approval rating among Independents dropped to 48% in the latest poll, the first time it has dropped below 50% with the latter group since taking office in January.

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Biden's support among Republicans sat at 12%.

Despite the decline in support, Biden still remains in positive territory, and "it's common for presidents to see about a 3-point decrease in their average job approval ratings between their first and second quarters," according to a Gallup report.

Biden's first quarter job approval rating averaged 56%.

His second quarter average approval rating was 53.3%, which is higher than both former President Bill Clinton (44%) and former President Donald Trump (38.8%), per Gallup data.

However, the president's second quarter average was below that of former President Barack Obama (62%) and former President George W. Bush (55.8%).

From the 1950s to the 1980s, presidents often boasted higher approval ratings than what currently exists today, the result of less stringent political polarization - former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy both averaged approval ratings exceeding 70% during their second quarters, according to Gallup.

Biden posted his highest Gallup job approval rating to date with 57% support in late January and early February, as well as in April.