Biden faces a complex and dangerous task on a global scale: to preserve the unity of the West in the face of “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
“From the messy end of the war in Afghanistan at the end of the summer, a spike in COVID cases in the fall, amid economic worries about inflation and labor shortages, and his troubles with the legislative agenda, Biden is also facing extreme resentment from the American public whose expectations did not come true at all,” said American expert Christopher Borik, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College.
“The situation in Ukraine is another challenge of his competence.”
The latest crisis came as Biden already saw his public support waning.
Only about a quarter of Americans have significant confidence in Biden’s competence when it comes to effectively managing the military or strengthening US authority in the world. About 4 in 10 have little confidence in Biden in these areas, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Democrats are now less likely than they were when he took office to say they have “great confidence” in him (48% vs. 65%), according to the poll.