Black support for Biden takes big-time hit after vaccine mandate announcement

President Joe Biden's recent announcement that the federal government would mandate vaccines for businesses with more than 100 people was, to say the least, controversial. However, Biden's constitutionally questionable mandate has been met with polling that has been generally not hostile to the plan — if not somewhat favorable.

But there's one group of Americans whose views on Biden's job performance have deteriorated significantly following his mandate announcement, and they are a core constituency for the Democratic Party: black voters.

A new Morning Consult survey published Wednesday showed that net approval — the share of those who approve less the share who disapprove — for Biden among blacks has dropped 12 percentage points since Sept. 8, the day before Biden made his mandate announcement.

Disapproval of Biden among blacks, who happen to be the least vaccinated racial demographic in the U.S., has shot up 7 points to 24% since Sept. 8, though the president does continue to be popular with the 71% of black voters who approve of his job performance, Morning Consult said.

His net approval among vaccinated blacks dropped 6 points, from 75% to 69%.

Biden's biggest hit among black voters came from the unvaccinated, where his net approval was cut in half, from 35% to 18%. His disapproval numbers shot up 11 points from Sept. 8, while his approval dropped 6 points.

The president's net approval among all voters was a negative 2 points.

Democrats have reason to be worried, Morning Consult said:

The September erosion accounted for more than two-fifths of the decline in perceptions of Biden's job performance to date among Black voters, providing a stark warning sign for Democrats ahead of next year's midterms. While Black voters, who helped push Biden over the top against President Donald Trump in key states last year, are unlikely to abandon the Democratic Party en masse to back Republicans on the ballot next year, low turnout from the group could have dire consequences for Democrats in Congress, who already face an early enthusiasm gap.

The poll also revealed that President Biden has seen black voters' approval of his handling of various issues take a hit. He's down 9 points on his handling of the coronavirus; down 7 points on national security; down 6 points on jobs; down 4 points on foreign policy, immigration, and the economy; and down 3 points on health care.