Two years into President Joe Biden's tenure, more Americans feel a sense of unity in the United States, while fewer express concerns about political divisions, according to a new LX News/YouGov poll.
While three in four American adults (76%) say the country is either “somewhat divided” or “very divided” right now, more respondents (16%) said the country was either “somewhat united” or “very united” in this latest poll than any other time since LX News and YouGov started measuring attitudes in November 2020.
When Biden took office in January 2021, two weeks after the riots at the U.S. Capitol, 93% of the country believed America was divided. Just 6% said the country was united.
It’s unclear if time has merely healed some of the wounds from the turmoil of January 2021, or if Biden has been successful in his promise to unite America.
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The president has also worked across the aisle over the last two years to pass bipartisan legislation on gun reforms, infrastructure funding, manufacturing bills and same-sex marriage protections.
But he has also angered conservatives with his approach toward immigration, government spending and the IRS.
And few Americans give the president credit for bringing the country together; 23% say Biden is responsible for helping to unite the country, while 44% say he is responsible for deepening divisions.
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Thirty-six percent of respondents in the poll want Biden to prioritize unity moving forward, even if it means less priority is given to the legislative agenda he campaigned on. That figure stood at 52% the week he took office in January 2021.
Americans Want Republicans to Focus on Unity, Too
The LX News/YouGov poll also found U.S. adults want the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives to focus on policies that unite, rather than focus on investigations of President Biden.
Forty-five percent of Americans say they want House Republicans to work on uniting the nation, even if it means less priority is given to investigating President Biden. Only 24% said they would prioritize investigations into the president.
Among Republican-leaners, 42% preferred investigations, while 34% preferred policies that unite. But most other demographics polled preferred policies that unite, including independents (36% unite, 22% investigate) and Democratic-leaning respondents (64% unite, 13% investigate).
The LX News/YouGov poll surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults between Jan. 11 and Jan. 17, 2023. The margin of error for the poll is 3.5%, adjusted for weighting.
Noah Pransky is LX News’ National Political Editor, covering Washington and state politics, with a special focus on young voters. His political and investigative work has been honored with national Murrow, Polk, duPont and Cronkite awards, and you can contact him confidentially at noah.pransky@nbcuni.com, or on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
