The number of Americans who disapprove of President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war is increasing, according to the latest CBS News poll released Sunday.
Now 61% of Americans disapprove, a rise of 5 points since October's edition of the poll. Also, the approval of Biden's handling of the war dipped 5 points to 39%, according to the poll.
The poll found Republicans and older Americans want more condemnation of protests favoring the Hamas terrorist-run Gaza, while Democrats are increasingly saying Biden is showing too much support for Israel, which is hunting for hostages taken to Gaza after Hamas terrorists conducted a massive terrorist attack Oct. 7.
But there is a silver lining for Biden's reelection hopes, according to CBS analysis.
"That said, it isn't impacting Mr. Biden's overall approval rating, which is generally holding steady and is at 41%, in part because Americans don't rank the war among the U.S.' top problems," CBS News wrote.
"But for context, as Americans assess the U.S.' top problems, the Israel-Hamas war is not among them. It's low single-digits far below inflation, and below the state of democracy, the border, and gun violence when people are asked to pick."
A few other notable findings in the poll:
- A combined 68% say things are in American are going at least somewhat badly, including a plurality of adults (35%) saying "very badly."
- A 51% majority says the national employment situation is going at least "fairly badly."
- 76% say their income is not able to keep up with Biden inflation.
- 60% say economic opportunity for older people is decreasing, with just 17% saying they are increasing under Biden.
- A majority of 56% say economic opportunities for the middle class are decreasing.
The poll did not ask about Biden reelection hopes or former President Donald Trump's standing among the Republican president primary that begins in earnest next month in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The CBS News poll was conducted by YouGov among 2,144 U.S. adults Dec. 6-8. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentages points.