[imagesource: AP Photo/Julio Cortez]

On January 20 of this year, as the clock struck midday, Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States of America.

Your QAnon-believing uncle may think that man in Washington was actually a Biden clone, and the real Joe Biden is dead / in Guantanamo Bay / too busy drinking the blood of children (yes, those are all real theories), but Joe is in the White House and doing his thing.

Sometimes, that thing involves tumbling up the stairs of Air Force One, but at least he’s never climbed those stairs with toilet paper stuck to his shoe.

Presidents are often assessed after their first 100 days in office, but we’re jumping the gun a little here, as it’s only been 85 days since Biden took over.

Forbes, using data from FiveThirtyEight’s running tracker, has compared Biden’s approval rating to that of his predecessors:

Biden’s approval rating hit 60% in an April 9 to April 12 Politico/Morning Consult poll with nearly 2,000 respondents, though his average rating is 53.1% 85 days into his presidency…

By contrast, Donald Trump’s approval rating never cracked 45.5% during the same period of his presidency, and sat at about 41% on day 85…

Of the last six presidents, only Trump (41.2%) had a lower average approval rating than Biden 85 days in office, though George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both clocked in just a tick higher, at 54.2% and 53.4%, respectively.

On day 85, Barack Obama’s average approval rating sat at 60,7%, while George H.W. Bush’s was 59,1%, and Ronald Reagan’s was 67,6%.

The declining approval rating numbers are a reminder of just how polarised American politics has become.

In the past, times of crisis have seen approval ratings surge, with George W. Bush hitting a 90% rating in the days after the September 11, 2001 attack, although his presidency ended with a rating of around 27% when he left office.

Had Donald Trump not entirely bungled his country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a chance he would still be in office.

That being said, his average approval rating (41,2%) through 85 days in office is a full 12 points worse than any of the previous seven presidents.

According to the most recent data on FiveThirtyEight’s tracker, Biden’s current approval rate is 52,5%:

On April 28, Biden will address a joint session of Congress to mark 100 days in office.

There is no doubting that Trump will miss not being able to rage tweet right through that address.

[sources:forbes&fivethirtyeight]