WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Only about 2 in 10 Americans approve of President Joe Biden鈥檚 after earlier promising he would do no such thing, according to a poll from .
That displeasure tracks with the in Washington that ignited over the president's about-face. The survey found that a relatively small share of Americans 鈥渟trongly鈥� or 鈥渟omewhat鈥� approve of the pardon, which came after the younger Biden was and . About half said they 鈥渟trongly鈥� or 鈥渟omewhat鈥� disapprove, and about 2 in 10 neither approve nor disapprove.
had said repeatedly that he would not use his pardon power for the benefit of his family, and the White House continued to insist, even after Republican , that Biden's position had not changed 鈥� until it suddenly did.
鈥淚 know it's not right to believe politicians as far as what they say compared to what they do, but he did explicitly say, 鈥業 will not pardon my son,'" said Peter Prestia, a 59-year-old Republican from Woodland Park, New Jersey, just west of New York City, who said he strongly disagreed with the move. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 just the fact that he went back on his word.鈥�
Dec. 1, Biden argued that the Justice Department had presided over a 鈥渕iscarriage of justice鈥� in prosecuting his son. The president used some of the to describe the .
White House press secretary said it was a decision that Biden but came to shortly before he made the announcement, 鈥渂ecause of how politically infected these cases were鈥� as well as 鈥渨hat his political opponents were trying to do.鈥�
The poll found that about 4 in 10 Democrats approve of the pardon, while about 3 in 10 disapprove and about one-quarter did not have an opinion or did not know enough to say. The vast majority of Republicans and about half of independents had a negative opinion.
For some, it was easy to see family taking priority over politics.
鈥淒o you have kids?鈥� asked Robert Jenkins, a 63-year-old Democrat who runs a lumber yard and gas station in Gallipolis, Ohio. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna leave office and not pardon your kid? I mean, it鈥檚 a no-brainer to me.鈥�
But Prestia, who is semiretired from working for a digital marketing conglomerate, said Biden would have been better off not making promises.
鈥淗e does have that right to pardon anybody he wants. But he just should have kept his mouth shut, and he did it because it was before the election, so it鈥檚 just a bold-faced lie,鈥� Prestia said.
Despite the unpopularity of his decision, the president's approval rating has not shifted meaningfully since before his party lost the White House to Trump. About 4 in 10 Americans 鈥渟omewhat鈥� or 鈥渟trongly鈥� approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, which is roughly where his approval rating has stood in AP-NORC polls since January 2022.
Still, the pardon keeps creating political shock waves, with Republicans, and even some top Democrats, decrying it.
Older adults are more likely than younger ones to approve of Biden鈥檚 pardoning his son, according to the poll, although their support is not especially strong. About one-third of those ages 60 and older approve, compared with about 2 in 10 adults under 60.
The age divide is driven partially by the fact that younger adults are more likely than older ones to say they neither approve nor disapprove of the pardon or that they do not know enough to say.
About 6 in 10 white adults disapprove of the pardon, compared with slightly less than half of Hispanic adults and about 3 in 10 Black adults. Relatively large shares of Black and Hispanic Americans 鈥� about 3 in 10 鈥� were neutral, the poll found.
鈥淒on鈥檛 say you鈥檙e gonna do something and then fall back,鈥� said Trinell Champ, 43, a Democrat from Nederland, Texas, who works in the home health industry and said she disapproved of the pardon. 鈥淎t the end of the day, all you have is your word.鈥�
Champ, who is Black, voted for Democratic Vice President over Trump. 鈥淚 just had my hopes up for her, but I wasn鈥檛 100% positive,鈥� she said.
Champ also said she does not approve of Biden鈥檚 handling of the presidency and thinks the country is on the wrong track. 鈥淲hile he was in office, I felt like I really didn鈥檛 see a lot of changes,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 just felt like everything just kind of stayed the same,鈥� Champ said.
Overall, though, the pardon did not appear to be a driving factor in many Americans' assessment of Biden's job performance. The share of Black Americans who approve of the way he is handling his job as president did fall slightly since October, but it is hard to assess what role the pardon may have played.
Jenkins is also chair of the Democratic Party in Gallia County, a strongly Republican area in southeast Ohio. He said things have not been going well for his businesses and, though he approved of Biden's handling of the presidency, he believes the country is now on the wrong track.
He said that is partly because of Trump鈥檚 win in the presidential race, but it is also because Biden made when there was not enough time for a more open primary process that might have led to a stronger Democratic nominee.
鈥淚 know he鈥檚 in a spot there, but jeez-o-Pete, he got down the wrong end,鈥� Jenkins said of Biden. He said if Biden had stepped aside earlier and a nominee emerged from 15 or 20 candidates, 鈥淚 think we would have won on that. Who knows?鈥�
Prestia said he does not approve of Biden's handling of the presidency but sees the country now on the right track because Trump is returning to the White House.
鈥淐ompared to Biden, he means what he says," Prestia said.
___
The poll of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Will Weissert And Amelia Thomson-deveaux, The Associated Press
