Biden approval steady after document discovery: AP-NORC Poll

More U.S. adults disapprove than approve of the way President Joe Biden has handled the discovery of classified documents at his home and former office, a new poll shows, but that seems to have had little impact on his overall approval rating.

The new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 41% of Americans say they approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, about the same as the 43% who said that in December. In the new poll, 77% of Democrats approve of how Biden is handling his job, while 91% of Republicans disapprove, both little changed since late last year.

Biden, who will address a joint session of Congress in his State of the Union address next week, needs all the support he can muster as he strategizes his expected reelection campaign, and has been working to focus voters on his agenda and big legislative wins instead of the documents flap.

Biden's attorneys discovered classified items in a locked closet in November, as they cleared out his office at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank where he briefly worked after he left government. The records were turned over to Justice Department officials. The discovery touched off a special counsel investigation and additional documents have turned up at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, in searches by his lawyers and by the FBI. Agents also searched Biden's vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and his former office at the Penn Biden Center.

More people disapprove than approve of his handling of situation since the classified documents were found, 39% to 23%, Another 36% say they neither approve nor disapprove. Democrats are more likely to approve than disapprove, 44% to 15%, with 40% saying they have no opinion either way.

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