On October 7, 52.4 percent of Americans disapproved of the vice president’s performance, while only 37.6 percent approved, according to the most recent analysis by poll-tracker FiveThirtyEight.
Data from the tracker found Harris has been consistently unpopular, with her net disapproval rarely falling below 50 percent, since October 2021.
The vice president last had a positive rating on September 26, 2021, when 41.4 percent of Americans approved of her performance, versus 40.5 percent who disapproved. This means Harris is less popular than President Joe Biden.
While Biden’s FiveThirtyEight disapproval rating is near-identical, at 52.3 percent on October 13, he has a significantly higher approval rating, with 42.6 percent of Americans liking his performance.
The president did start his term being popular, with a net approval rating of 16.9 percent on January 23, 2021, just days after his inauguration.
However, this fell sharply in August 2021, coinciding with the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, and hasn’t been positive since August 29 of that year.
Donald Trump also polls badly, though less so than Harris, with no poll recorded by FiveThirtyEight giving him a positive approval rating during his post-presidential era.
The most-recent survey, by YouGov for British weekly newspaper The Economist, found 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump, versus 44 percent who have a favorable view of him.
This poll, of 1,500 eligible-to-vote U.S. residents, was conducted between October 8 and 11.
Harris had her first late-night TV appearance as vice-president on Tuesday, when a pre-recorded interview with her was broadcast on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Harris emphasized the importance of the upcoming midterms, arguing Americans need to “speak with your vote” if they want to protect abortion rights and fight climate change.
She backed President Biden’s decision, made earlier in October, to pardon all those with federal convictions for marijuana possession, saying: “Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed, right?”
The vice president also said that, due to security protocol, she can no longer be part of group chats on her phone and has stopped receiving emojis.
“Obviously, you have to make a great many sacrifices to hold this office, but is it true that you can no longer send emojis?” Meyers asked.
Harris replied: “Okay, high-class problems. I have not received, directly, an emoji in a year and a half.”
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Democrats are “slightly” favored to retain control of the Senate in the November midterms, while the GOP is “slightly” more likely to gain control of the House.
