Americans continue to express dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s leadership and the direction of the country as his term comes to a close. Recent assessments reveal that only 39% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance as president, while a mere 19% are satisfied with the nation’s overall trajectory. Biden initially enjoyed approval ratings above 50% in the early days of his presidency, but these numbers declined amid economic challenges and policy controversies. Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, his approval ratings stabilized in the high 30s to low 40s.
The latest Gallup poll highlighted that since “at least 2010, the nation has been stuck in a public opinion rut. Presidential job approval has rarely surpassed 50%, congressional job approval hasn’t exceeded 36%, and except for a brief period before the pandemic in 2020, less than 40% of Americans have expressed satisfaction with the direction of the country.”
The final Gallup poll of 2024, conducted from Dec. 2 to Dec. 18, revealed that Congress had a job approval rating of just 17% in December, consistently remaining below 20% throughout most of the year. The poll also reported that only 20% of Americans are satisfied with the nation’s overall trajectory, a figure that has remained relatively stable in recent surveys.
As the nation approaches a leadership transition with President-elect Donald Trump set to be sworn in as the 47th president on Jan. 20, the steady yet subdued polling ratings highlight the challenges faced by the outgoing administration and reflect the public’s cautious outlook on the future. The final job approval rating for the current administration is anticipated in January.
In a twist of irony, legal experts suggested earlier this month that Joe Biden’s efforts to secure his son’s freedom could ultimately expose him to legal jeopardy, as the move may pave the way for Hunter Biden to testify against his father. The political landscape in Washington, D.C., was rocked earlier this month when Biden issued a sweeping pardon to his embattled son, covering both known and potential offenses dating back to 2014.
The clemency was broader in scope than the pardon granted to former President Richard Nixon after Watergate. Despite repeatedly denying plans to do so over the past year, Biden defended his decision in a statement, arguing that “raw politics has infected” Hunter’s conviction on a felony gun charge in September and warning of a similar pattern in the Justice Department’s pursuit of tax evasion charges against Hunter in California.
By granting the pardon, President Biden may have inadvertently opened the door for prosecutors and political opponents to scrutinize him and his family’s involvement in lucrative overseas business deals, according to The Western Journal. Mike Davis, a lawyer with the conservative Article 3 Project, pointed out that Hunter Biden can now be compelled to testify without invoking the Fifth Amendment, which only protects against self-incrimination.
If House Republicans continue their investigation into the Biden family and question Hunter about Burisma, Chinese business ventures, or Russian oligarchs he worked with, he may be required to answer. Davis emphasized that these dealings, spanning from 2014 to the present, are now pardoned, removing any potential legal jeopardy for Hunter in those matters. “If Biden pardons someone–like, say, Hunter or Jack Smith–they can no longer invoke the Fifth Amendment’s right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying before Congress or grand juries,” Davis wrote on X. “If those pardoned refuse to testify, they can face new charges for criminal contempt.”
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