Survey finds 52% of Americans ‘not confident’ Biden up to job of being president

A slight majority of American voters say they are not confident Joe Biden is physically or mentally “up to the job of being president of the United States,” according to a new survey.

Not only has Biden’s average approval rating fallen below 50 percent, the lowest of his presidency, but a new Rasmussen poll has found that 52 percent of likely voters now believe Biden, the oldest-ever chief executive, is not up to the job and that his aides are effectively performing his duties for him.

In addition, 41 percent of respondents said they are “not confident at all” that Biden is up to the job of being president.

The survey has highlighted pre-election concerns that Biden was too old to be president. Those concerns are now settling in as the Americans see their commander-in-chief slow-walking, refusing to consider questions at press conferences, and more recently being baffled by the crisis in Afghanistan.

The participants in the survey were asked whether they believed Biden was really doing the job as president or others were making the decisions for him behind the scenes.

Again, a slight majority, 51 percent, said they believe others are doing his work, while 39 percent said the president is in charge, down from 47 percent in March.

The findings represent a sharp decline from a similar SurveyMonkey poll just one month into Biden’s presidency when a third of Americans said he was not mentally sharp enough to discharge his presidential duties.

The shift in the public opinion about Biden from a third to a majority may indicate that Americans are having doubts about whether the president will be able to finish his term.

Biden is going through a rough patch in his presidency. He is grappling with the largest immigration crisis in US history, a surge in COVID-19 infections, and a chaotic withdrawal effort in Afghanistan.

Gallup’s latest job approval rating for President Biden, conducted mostly before the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban earlier this week, stands at 49 percent. That is is one percentage point below the 50 percent registered in July and is the lowest of his term thus far.