WASHINGTON (New York Post) – A new poll shows that most Americans characterize the U.S. as a dysfunctional family on the verge of splitting apart — a sentiment widely held among members of rival political parties.
The Fox News poll asked voters about efforts to unify the country before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address next Tuesday and found that 81% of Americans describe the U.S. as a dysfunctional family, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2020.
Only 16% say America is a tight-knit family.
Eighty-six percent of Republicans and independents see the U.S. as a dysfunctional family, as do 74% of Democrats.
The survey also shows that most Americans — 80% — rate the economy as either “only fair” or “poor”, and 73% are “not very” or “not at all” satisfied with the way things are going in the country.
More than half of Democrats — 55% — and 86% of Republicans say they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country.
Asked about their financial affairs, 47% of Americans say they are “holding steady” while 44% say they are “falling behind” — and only 8% say they are “getting ahead”.
And 74% of Americans believe the U.S. will have a recession this year, compared to 20% who disagree.
But 86% say they are concerned about inflation, 80% fret over high crime rates, 78% worry about political divisions, and 76% agonize over opioid addictions.
Following are concerns over the debate on the nation’s debt ceiling (68%), the war in Ukraine (68%), gun laws (66%), border security (65%) and illegal immigration (63%).
As Biden is poised to address the nation next week, his 45% approval rating remains mired in the 40s as it has over most of his first term, down from its high of 56% in June 2021.
Americans give him poor marks for his handling of inflation (66%), the economy (61%) and border security (61%).
But Biden’s approval rating is higher than that of Vice President Kamala Harris (39%), the Supreme Court (41%), Democrats in Congress (42%) and Republicans in Congress (38%).
Biden, former president Donald Trump and former vice president Mike Pence are caught up in controversies over their handling of classified documents.
But just over half of Americans — 51% — think Trump did something illegal, compared to 37% for Biden and 22% for Pence.
Fifty-four percent say Pence was careless with the materials, as do 46% about Biden and 29% about Trump.
The poll surveyed 1,003 registered voters between Jan. 27 and 30. It has a plus/minus 3 percentage-point margin of error.