Biden’s approval underwater for first time in presidency

Tanking.

President Joe Biden’s approval numbers are in the tank thanks to the pandemic and his disastrous mishandling of the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan.

In fact, for the first time in his presidency, his disapproval rating is now higher than his approval rating, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.

Roughly 48.9% say they disapprove of how Biden’s handling the job, while a slightly smaller 46.6% say they approve.

He has been in office for only seven months.

In specific categories surveyed by polling firms from around the country, the president is suffering badly. There is little, if any, good news for his White House amid the Afghanistan debacle, where thousands of U.S. nationals and Afghan allies are fleeing for their lives.

A USA Today /Suffolk University poll released this week found 62% of respondents disapprove of president's management of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, a separate NBC News poll this week shows 60% of respondents hold a negative view of the president’s handling of the retreat.

The same NBC poll also found the public has lost considerable confidence in Biden’s ability to lead on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic. In August, 53% of respondents said they approve of Biden’s approach to the virus. This is a 16-point drop from April. Forty-seven percent also said this month they approve of his handling of the economy, which marks a 5-point drop from the spring.

An CBS News poll conducted Aug. 18 thru 20 similarly found 53% of respondents disapprove of how Biden is handling the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. It also shows 74% of Americans believe the U.S. withdrawal has gone badly, while a much smaller 26% say it has gone well.

Asked simply whether they “think Joe Biden has a clear plan for evacuating American civilians from Afghanistan,” 67% of respondents answered, “No.”

The same poll also showed 52% of respondents disapprove of the president's approach to Russia, while a slightly larger 53% disapprove of his approach to China.

Amazingly, the White House is reportedly hoping to ride out the Afghanistan disaster, counting on the public's alleged tendency to move on from traumatic world events.

“President Joe Biden is brushing off criticism of his administration's chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal because he and his aides believe the political fallout at home will be limited,” Reuters reported, citing White House allies and administration officials.

The report adds, “Biden and his top aides argue they are managing an evacuation mission as well as could be expected given the faster-than-anticipated takeover of the country by Taliban insurgents, and are seeking to draw attention back to the choice to get U.S. troops out of the country.”

White House officials are reportedly basing their strategy on polling that shows there’s popular support for getting the U.S. out of Afghanistan. The Biden administration is at least partially correct. There is widespread support for getting out. However, as the same polls show, there is equal, if not greater, anger concerning how the White House has chosen to execute this mission.

"The public opinion is pretty damn clear that Americans wanted out of the ongoing war and don't want to get back in. It's true today, and it's going to be true in six months," a Biden ally told Reuters. "It isn't about not caring or being empathetic about what's going on over there but worrying about what's happening in America."

The Reuters report also contains the following passage:

But White House officials believe Americans' horror over graphic images of the chaos in Kabul and pleas from Afghans who fear they will be killed by the Taliban will morph into support for the president's decision to pull troops from the country by Aug. 31 after a 20-year war.

They expect the Afghanistan story to recede from the headlines, replaced by the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the economic recovery and other issues, people familiar with the matter said.

What odious people. Morally bankrupt and not even good at politics!

On a moral level, it’s shocking the Biden White House is gaming the Afghanistan debacle in terms of the political fallout and not in terms of rescuing Americans and Afghan allies. And on a political level, it’s both ill-conceived and shortsighted for the White House to think the public will soon forget what will undoubtedly happen in Afghanistan should droves of Americans be left unprotected from the coming Taliban takeover.

If the U.S. leaves Americans stranded in Afghanistan, where they’ll surely be captured, tortured, and killed for propaganda purposes, that’s a horror and shame that won’t soon be forgotten. There's no "ride it out" strategy in the world that can save the Biden administration from that scenario.