Poll: Most Give Biden a ‘Poor’ or ‘Fair’ Rating in Handling the Fentanyl Crisis

President Joe Biden delivers a toast to the nation's governors during a black-tie dinner i
Nathan Howard/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Most voters give President Biden a “poor” or “fair” rating for how he is handling the country’s fentanyl crisis, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday found.

An overwhelming majority, 91 percent, believe the fentanyl problem in the country is at least “somewhat serious,” and of those, 71 percent said it is “very serious.” That view is shared across party lines, as 78 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of Democrats, and 71 percent of independents agree that it is “very serious.”

When asked about how they rate the way Biden is handling the country’s fentanyl problem, most, 62 percent, rated it “fair” or “poor.” Of those, 48 percent said Biden is handling it poorly. Just 11 percent said “excellent,” and 15 percent said “good.”

Further, 69 percent rate Biden’s handling of the issue as poor, as do 54 percent of independents and 24 percent of Democrats.

More from Rasmussen Reports:

Seventy-five percent (75%) of whites, and 64% of black voters and other minorities, consider fentanyl to be a Very Serious problem. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of whites, 30% of black voters and 22% of other minorities rate Biden as doing a good or excellent job in handling the fentanyl problem.

There is very little “gender gap” on the fentanyl problem, although men (28%) are slightly more likely than women voters (25%) to rate Biden’s handling of the problem as good or excellent.

Older voters are more likely than those under 40 to consider fentanyl a Very Serious problem in America. A majority of older voters, but only 33% of those under 40, give Biden a poor rating for his handling of the fentanyl problem.

The survey was taken February 5-7 among 900 likely voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error.

The survey follows Biden’s State of the Union speech, in which he claimed that personnel has seized 23,000 pounds of fentanyl “in just the last several months.”

“Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year,” he claimed, “Let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, sale, and trafficking, with more drug detection machines to inspect cargo and stop pills and powder at the border.”

“It’s your fault,” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) yelled during the speech.

Meanwhile, Biden’s Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas claims that the administration is “doing that which needs to be done” to stop it, while critics say the administration is not putting enough pressure on Mexico.

According to a recent government report, drug overdose deaths likely exceeded 107,000 from August 2021 to August 2022.

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