Kabul Fiasco Drags Biden Job Ratings To New Low; Most Believe He Will Leave Americans Behind

The appalling breakdown in Afghanistan following the United States' decision to pull out its troops has undermined President Joe Biden's credibility at home, two polls have showed.

Biden’s overall job approval rating stood at 41 percent, while his disapproval rating reached 55 percent in a poll taken Thursday through Monday by USA Today and Suffolk University. His approval ratings until last week generally hovered above 50 percent.

Only 26 percent of respondents approved of the president’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Director of the Suffolk Political Research Center, David Paleologos, said “Biden’s overall approval has taken a turn for the worse due to his awful job performance rating on Afghanistan.”

In a separate poll by Rasmussen Reports, 76 percent of respondents believe stranded Americans are likely to become hostage to the Taliban. The Rasmussen national telephone and online survey further found that only 28 percent of likely U.S. voters believe the Biden team is doing enough to rescue stranded Americans in Afghanistan. As many as 59 percent believe there is inadequate action from the administration.

The steady decline of Biden’s approval rating has been apparent over the past few months. Last month, a poll by analytics and advisory company Gallup found that 50 percent of respondents approved of the president’s performance from July 6 to 21, while 45 percent disapprove of his decisions during the said period. Only 5 percent of the respondents in the Gallup poll had no comment on the matter.

Gallup noted in its report that Biden’s approval rating in June was 56 percent, further solidifying the growing fear among Americans as the situation in Afghanistan intensifies.

Fears of U.S. citizens being left behind in Kabul were fueled after the Taliban said Tuesday that they will no longer allow Afghan evacuations, CNN reported. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the militant group has blocked the road going to the Kabul airport. “Afghans cannot take that road to go to the airport, but foreign nationals are allowed to take that road,” Mujahid said.

While the Taliban is allowing Americans and other foreign nationals to enter the airport for now, it is unclear what happens to U.S. citizens who can’t leave the airport before the end of the month. The Taliban has said earlier Tuesday that all evacuations of foreign nationals should be completed by Aug. 31 – the same deadline for all U.S. military presence to be withdrawn from the country.

Biden said the goal is to finish evacuations by the end of the month, but extending the deadline will rely heavily on the Taliban’s cooperation.