Is Joe Biden’s honeymoon over? If his latest polling numbers are any indication, we are, at the very least, approaching that point.

Gallup has released its new approval rating data, and it shows a precipitous drop for Biden. More importantly, he’s losing support among groups that Democrats need to do well with in 2022 to retain Congress. It’s not a five-alarm level of concern yet, but it’s not looking good either.

This per The Washington Times.

The honeymoon appears to be waning.https://t.co/46e0SdC1m9

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 24, 2021

“President Biden‘s latest job approval rating of 50% is down from 56% in June. Before this month, hisratings had not shown meaningful variation during his time in office, and the current figure marks the lowest measured for him to date,” reported a new Gallup poll released Friday.

“Currently, 90% of Democrats, 12% of Republicans and 48% of independents approve of the job Biden is doing. His ratings among Democrats and independents are the lowest to date among those groups. The new poll marks the first time he has less-than majority approval among independents,” Gallup said.

For Biden to have dropped to 50% just six months into his presidency is not a good sign. There’s also nothing on the horizon that would likely turn those numbers around. Inflation is hitting the middle class and unemployment claims are rising. Meanwhile, the administration’s incoherence regarding COVID, including possibly pushing renewed mask mandates, is probably a negative driver as well.

Biden’s inability to complete a sentence may be harming perceptions about him as well. At a recent town hall, the president launched into a full 30+ seconds of mind-melting nothingness that would make even his strongest supporters question his mental capacity. Couple that the more radical elements of his administration seemingly pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that’s a recipe for spooking independent voters, a group which this poll shows he’s now underwater with.

Here’s the thing with the 2022 election. Republicans have a ton of built-in advantages due to redistricting (because they won elections at the state level). They also have historical headwinds given 2022 is the first mid-term for a new president. The only way to overcome that is for Democrats to do really well with swing voters. That will not happen if Biden is hovering around 50% approval.

In recent electoral history, only George W. Bush has managed to avoid a first mid-term bloodbath, and that was following 9/11. Biden may have thought COVID was going to present a similar rallying point, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Rather, his handling of COVID appears to be a growing point of contention.

If Biden doesn’t improve his appeal, he’s going to be a millstone around the neck of Democrats in swing districts. But how can he? He’s obviously not going to change course on policy, as he’s completely surrendered to the far-left of his own party. Further, he’s taken an organic economic recovery and run it into the ground. That won’t be fixed overnight, and it will only get worse if Democrats pass their $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. In short, Biden is in too deep and there’s little evidence he gets his head back up above water enough to prevent a red wave on election night in 2022.

Of course, nothing would be better for the country than for that to happen.