A recent Fox News poll suggests a majority of Americans believe the country has become even more divided since President Joe Biden took office in January.
Fifty-four percent of respondents in the nationwide survey of more than 2,000 registered voters said the U.S. is “less united” under Biden, compared to 37% who believe the country is “more united.”
A majority in the poll, released Sunday, also said the country is headed in the wrong direction. Fifty-six percent said they are dissatisfied with how things are going, but that’s still a 10-percentage point drop in dissatisfaction when Fox News polled Americans last summer when then-President Donald Trump was in office.
Biden’s overall job approval rating (50% approve) has also declined in recent months amid the withdrawal of American forces in Afghanistan and the ongoing surge of cases of COVID-19, though the president’s highest marks continue to be for his handling of the pandemic. The highly contagious delta variant continues to spread, and new cases and hospitalizations have largely been among unvaccinated people.
“Biden has had solid numbers so far, but his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the delta variant has taken a toll,” Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who along with Democrat Chris Anderson conducted the survey. Last month, 53% of Fox News survey respondents approved of Biden’s performance; he enjoyed 56% support in June.
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