WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s public approval was at 40 percent in recent days, close to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans unhappy about his handling of immigration and inflation, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
The three-day poll, which ended on Sunday, showed a marginal increase in Biden’s popularity from last month, when 39 percent of respondents said they approved of his performance as president. The poll has a margin of error of three percentage points.
The economy remained respondents’ top concern amid high rates of inflation and a push by central bankers to tame prices by raising interest rates, which has made mortgages and car loans costlier.
The looming Thursday expiration of COVID-19 rules that have blocked many foreigners from crossing into the United States to seek asylum has also become a subject of concern. Long lines of migrants have amassed this week in the Mexican border city of Tijuana waiting for the policy to expire.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll found 54 percent of respondents — including 77 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats — were against raising the number of immigrants allowed into the country every year.
Only 26 percent said they approved of Biden’s handling of immigration.
Sixty-six percent of respondents support sending active duty US soldiers to the border to support Border Patrol agents.
The Pentagon announced this month that Biden’s administration will temporarily send 1,500 additional troops to help secure the border in preparation for the lifting of the COVID-19 border restrictions.
The president is seeking re-election next year and immigration is primed to be an important issue in the contest. Republicans accuse him of being soft on immigration, though his administration has planned to send additional troops to assist in securing the border.
The frontrunner for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump, made cracking down on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his administration.
Biden is also facing criticism from Republicans over government spending, which surged in recent years — including during the Trump administration — as the government spent freely fighting COVID-19.
Biden is due to meet with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday to discuss an impasse over the federal debt ceiling. Failing to lift the borrowing limit could lead Washington to start falling behind on its bills as soon as June 1, the Treasury Department has warned.
Fifty-four percent of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they were opposed to raising the debt ceiling, including 59 percent of respondents who don’t have a college degree. Among those with a degree, 44 percent were opposed to raising the borrowing limit.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 1,022 US adults, using a nationally representative sample.
Biden’s approval rating at 40%, Americans concerned about immigration
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Biden’s approval rating at 40%, Americans concerned about immigration
- Only 26 percent said they approved of Biden’s handling of immigration
Filmmakers defend Berlin festival chief in Gaza row
- Actors and filmmakers rushed to defend the head of the Berlin film festival Thursday following a media report that her job was on the line over a director’s anti-Israel speech at the event
BERLIN: Actors and filmmakers rushed to defend the head of the Berlin film festival Thursday following a media report that her job was on the line over a director’s anti-Israel speech at the event.
Syrian-Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib kicked off a controversy during Saturday’s closing ceremony by accusing Germany of being complicit in genocide in Gaza through its support for Israel.
German tabloid Bild had reported that Tricia Tuttle was due to be dismissed at an emergency meeting on Thursday, citing sources close to state-owned KBB, the company that runs the festival.
Culture minister Wolfram Weimer’s office confirmed the meeting had taken place but made no mention of Tuttle being sacked, stating that discussions had been “constructive and open” and would “continue in the coming days.”
A group of cinema luminaries including Tilda Swinton, Todd Haynes, Sean Baker and Tom Tykwer signed an open letter defending the Berlinale as a forum for free expression.
“As filmmakers in Germany and beyond, we are following the debates surrounding the Berlinale and the discussion about the dismissal of Tricia Tuttle with great concern,” they wrote. “We defend the Berlinale for what it is: a place of exchange.”
Angry rows over the Israel-Palestinian conflict have repeatedly rocked the Berlinale, held every February as Europe’s first major film festival of the year.
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider walked out of Saturday’s closing ceremony, labelling Khatib’s remarks “unacceptable.”
Germany, as it has sought to atone for the horrors of the Holocaust, has been a steadfast supporter of Israel, and criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza has been more muted than in many other countries.
Conservative lawmaker Ellen Demuth was among those who condemned the “antisemitic incident” at the awards ceremony and urged “a fresh start at the top of the film festival.”
The Berlinale Team in an Instagram post meanwhile defended Tuttle, praising her “clarity, integrity and artistic vision.”
The writers’ association PEN Berlin said Khatib’s comments were protected by freedom of expression and that if Tuttle were to be sacked over them, it would cause “immense damage” to the festival.
“Such wanton destruction of the German cultural scene, such self-inflicted insularity, must not be allowed to happen,” it said.
The backdrop of the Middle East conflict led to a tense 76th edition of the festival from the start.
More than 80 film professionals criticized the Berlinale’s “silence” on the Gaza war in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists “who reject the genocide” they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival after the jury president, German director Wim Wenders, said cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza.
