Americans’ Disapproval of Biden’s Handling of Hamas Conflict on the Rise, According to CBS Poll

The latest CBS News poll released Sunday shows that the majority of Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with 61% of Americans now disapproving, a rise of 5 points since October’s edition of the poll. The approval of Biden’s handling of the war has also dipped 5 points to 39%, according to the poll.

The poll found that Republicans and older Americans want more condemnation of protests favoring the Hamas terrorist-run Gaza, while Democrats are increasingly saying Biden is showing too much support for Israel. The poll also indicates that the war is not among the U.S.’s top problems, and it isn’t impacting Biden’s overall approval rating, which remains at 41%.

Some other notable findings in the poll include:

• A combined 68% say things are in American are going at least somewhat badly, including a plurality of adults (35%) saying “very badly.”
• A 51% majority says the national employment situation is going at least “fairly badly.”
• 76% say their income is not able to keep up with Biden inflation.
• 60% say economic opportunity for older people is decreasing, with just 17% saying they are increasing under Biden.
• A majority of 56% say economic opportunities for the middle class are decreasing.

The poll did not ask about Biden’s reelection hopes or former President Donald Trump’s standing among the Republican presidential primary that begins in earnest next month in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The CBS News poll was conducted by YouGov among 2,144 U.S. adults on December 6-8, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentages points.