Biden approval rating takes a hit in wake of Afghanistan exit, 53% say he bears some blame for deaths of service members

Biden’s public support continues to dip in the wake of the US’ messy exit from Afghanistan – and a disappointing jobs report for August, which the president is blaming on the Delta variant of the coronavirus, is adding to his woes.

August’s events have had a significant impact on Biden’s popularity among Americans, at least according to recent polling.

An ABC News/Washington Post survey released on Friday shows Biden with a 51% disapproval rating. His approval rating sat at 44%, with a sizable 9-point drop in support from Independents. The poll was conducted among over 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of 3.5%.

The majority of Democrats and Republicans actually agree with the decision to end the US’ 20 year military conflict in Afghanistan – but few are happy with how it was managed.

The survey shows 77% of respondents saying they agree with the decision to leave. Among Democrats, approval sits at a whopping 88%, with 74% of Republicans and 76% of Independents agreeing. 

While the issue may have been one of the few today that most can agree on, only 30% supported Biden’s handling of it, with 60% unimpressed.

In more bad news for Biden, a majority of respondents (53%) also said he bears either a ‘great’ or ‘good’ amount of blame for the attack at the Kabul airport that left 13 US service members dead. 

Biden still holds the support of a large group of his base, with 56% of Democrats saying they approve of his management of the Afghanistan exit, while only 7% of Republicans agreed, as well as 26% of Independents. 

The latest results are in line with other recent polling. A Rasmussen survey released this week found approximately half of Americans feel Biden should resign over the Afghanistan debacle.

Biden has called the withdrawal mission a “success,” despite the surprisingly quick Taliban takeover of Kabul before the US exit was even complete.

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