President Biden’s approval rating takes a jump in first poll of 2023

US President Joe Biden enjoyed a welcome jump in his approval rating to ring in the new year, according to the first approval poll of 2023. 

The Rasmussen poll, released on Tuesday, showed the president’s approval rating up to 47 percent, a significant improvement from last year’s approval numbers, which dipped as far down as the mid-30’s in 2022. The new polling shows the president’s disapproval rating at 52 percent for the month of December. 

Other polling also shows Biden’s approval rating trending upward slightly, with FiveThirtyEight showing the president at a 43.5 percent approval rating and a 51 percent disapproval rating. Those numbers are trending upward and downward, respectively, as the White House begins the new year with a new Congress.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling showed the president’s approval rating at its highest since the beginning of 2022, a year ago.

The numbers from this month are significantly improved from the last polling of 2022 by Reuters, which ended its polling year on December 21 with Biden at only a 39 percent approval rating, and a 55 percent disapproval.

The low numbers did not reflect what some in the White House had hoped would be a popularity bump after a better-than-expected Democratic showing in the 2022 November midterm elections.

As Biden weighs a decision about whether to run for reelection in 2024, the poll numbers in his favor for seeking a second term are not in his favor. According to a mid-December Newsweek poll, only 30 percent of voters believed Biden should run again. Biden has indicated he will run again, but has said he would make a decision early this year.