As President Joe Biden concludes his first week in office Wednesday, recent polling data indicates the number of Americans who are satisfied with the direction of the country is among the lowest it has been in more than a decade.
A Gallup poll released Tuesday found that just 11% of Americans are “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going, while 66% of Americans are “very dissatisfied.”
The rate of satisfaction is the lowest recorded since 2011 and only marginally higher than the all-time low of 7% recorded in 2008.
11% of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, down from 16% who said the same in December. https://t.co/BvrY4HhamP
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) January 26, 2021
Americans regardless of political affiliation expressed low levels of satisfaction. Republican satisfaction collapsed from 60% in October 2020 to 14% in early January, a considerable drop attributed to former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
Democrats have consistently expressed extremely low rates of satisfaction over the past several months. While 3% of Democratic respondents said they were satisfied with the way things are going in October 2020, just 5% of respondents said the same in early January. The results were notable given that Democrats now control the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Two major factors driving Americans’ dissatisfaction are the coronavirus pandemic and economy, according to Gallup. 45% of respondents said they were satisfied with the way things were going in February 2019. (RELATED: Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds Of Americans Say Country Is Headed In The Wrong Direction, Double-Digit Spike Since December)
But that number has since plummeted as the pandemic continues to impact public health and the economy. The U.S. has reported 25 million coronavirus cases and more than 425,000 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Trump’s legal challenges contesting the 2020 election results and the Capitol riot earlier this month may have also contributed to higher levels of dissatisfaction, according to Gallup. But satisfaction levels could increase in the coming months as the economy continues to recover and more Americans receive the coronavirus vaccine.
The Gallup poll surveyed 1,023 American adults via live telephone interviews between Jan. 4-15. The poll had a margin of error of +/- four percentage points.