Ipsos Core Political: Presidential Approval Tracker (10/5/2022)

Washington, DC, October 5, 2022 – This week’s Ipsos Core Political shows 40% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s performance in office and over half of Americans want him to prioritize addressing the economy.

Detailed Findings

Just under a quarter of Americans (24%) believe things in this country are headed in the right direction, with the majority (63%) believing things are off on the wrong track. Republicans (84%) and independents (71%) are most likely to be pessimistic about the direction the country is headed in, while Democrats are pretty evenly split between right direction (48%) and wrong track (41%).

The economy (30%), crime or corruption (9%), and the end of national abortion rights (8%) are the top three issues for Americans this week. The economy has been at the top of Americans’ list for a full year now. All partisans agree that the economy is the top issue, with Republicans (40%) most likely to say so, followed by independents (30%), and then Democrats (22%). Partisans are less likely to be in agreement on secondary and tertiary issues, though. For Democrats, the end of national abortion rights (12%) is in second place, followed by the environment and climate (11%). For Republicans, immigration (13%) is in second place, followed by crime or corruption (8%). Finally, for independents, crime or corruption (11%) is in second place, followed by the healthcare system (10%).

Forty percent of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s performance in office, while 53% disapprove. This is very near to the 39% approval rate that former President Donald Trump had in early October before the 2018 midterms.

Seventy-eight percent of Democrats still approve of President Biden’s performance in office, but only 29% of independents and 13% of Republicans approve.

When considering who they will vote for in the upcoming November 2022 midterm election, 1 in 3 (33%) Americans say they are most likely to vote for the Democratic candidate, while 32% say the Republican candidate. Fifteen percent say they will not or do not plan to vote and 13% say they are unsure. Only 6% say they are planning to vote for a candidate from another party. As expected, the majority of Democrats (81%) and the majority of Republicans (81%) say they will vote for a candidate from their own party. Meanwhile, most independents are likely to say they do not plan to vote (37%), or that they do not know who they will vote for (31%).

Americans would like President Biden to prioritize handling the economy (55%) and employment and jobs (24%). International trade (2%) and racial inequality (8%) are at the bottom of Americans’ list of priorities for Biden.

Among Democrats, the economy (47%) is still the top priority but 28% also want President Biden to prioritize the environment, placing it right above employment and jobs (23%). Most Republicans agree that the economy (63%) should be Biden’s top priority, but believe immigration (34%) should be his second priority, with employment and jobs (24%) in third place. Finally, for the majority of independents, the economy (60%) is also the top priority, followed by employment and jobs (23%).

President Biden receives the highest approval for his work on COVID-19 (47%) and on the environment (44%). President Biden receives his lowest approval ratings for taxation (31%), immigration (33%), and the economy (33%).

As expected, Democrats are most likely to give President Biden higher approval ratings on all issues, particularly for COVID-19 (77%) and the environment (74%), than Republicans and independents. Meanwhile, Republicans give Biden the lowest approval rating for his work on the economy (13%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 3-4, 2022. For this survey, a sample of 1,003 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 448 Democrats, 383 Republicans, and 116 independents. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 5.7 percentage points for Democrats, ± 6.1 percentage points for Republicans, and ± 11.1 percentage points for independents.  

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Annaleise Lohr
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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