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SALT LAKE CITY — President Joe Biden tweeted Wednesday that the nation has seen six straight weeks of falling gas prices, marking the fastest drop in more than a decade.
What the president failed to mention was the cost of gas had reached an all-time high amid rampant inflation before the decline started.
As Biden strives to put a positive spin on his presidency, Utahns continue to find his performance in the White House lacking as his administration struggles to get a handle on rising consumer prices and a possible recession.
Only 35% of Beehive State residents approve of the job Biden is doing, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll. The survey found 63% disapprove — including 50% strongly — of his job performance, while 3% don't know.
Biden's approval rating in Utah has hovered in the low to mid 30s since dipping to 29% in February following a difficult first year in office marked by Russia invading Ukraine, record-high inflation and sharp political division.
Though much of the Biden administration's agenda has stalled, the president has had some wins since the first of the year, including getting the first Black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Biden and the Democrats might be on the verge of other significant wins that the White House hopes would provide a modest political boost. Congress is poised to pass the first major prescription drug legislation in nearly 20 years, more than $50 billion to subsidize computer chip manufacturing and research, and a bill that would protect same-sex marriage, according to The Washington Post.
Still, Utah and the nation don't appear to be sold on the president. Many Americans have consternation over the state of the country and the economy.
As of Thursday, Biden had a 39.2% approval rating and 55.7% disapproval nationally, according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average. A new CNN poll found 75% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters want the party to nominate someone other than Biden in 2024, a sharp increase from earlier this year.
In Utah, 76% of Democrats approve of Biden's job performance, the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll shows. The president also does well with survey respondents who identified themselves as "somewhat liberal" (67% approval) and "very liberal" (80%). But it falls to just under half among "moderate" voters.
Only 23% of Republicans in the state gave Biden a thumbs up, while 75% gave him a thumbs down. Not surprisingly, he does the worst with "very" and "somewhat" conservative Utahns, with more than eight in 10 disapproving of his job performance.
The poll also found voters over age 40 were more likely to approve of the president than voters under that age. It also showed that 43% of women in Utah approve of how Biden is doing his job, compared to 28% of men.
Dan Jones & Associated conducted the poll of 810 Utah registered voters for the Deseret News and Hinckley Institute of Politics from July 13-18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
