Even though President Joe Biden seems to be the front-runner among Democrats heading into the primaries in 2016, a clear majority of Americans in a recent poll did not support him.
Fully two-thirds of respondents, or 66 percent, said that reflecting him would be the equivalent of a “disaster or a setback” for the nation as a whole, according to a recently released SSRS study commissioned by CNN.
“At the same time, the survey finds a decline in favorable views of Biden over the past six months, from 42% in December to 35% now,’ CNN reported.
“And results from the same poll released earlier this week showed Biden’s approval rating for handling the presidency at 40%, among the lowest for any first-term president since Dwight Eisenhower at this point in their term,” the network added.
The report added:
Within his own party, 60% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters say they back Biden for the top of next year’s Democratic ticket, 20% favor activist and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and 8% back author Marianne Williamson. Another 8% say they would support an unnamed “someone else.”
Biden’s primary supporters are largely locked in: 58% say they would definitely support him and 42% say that they could change their minds. In contrast, those backing other candidates are far from committed, with just 19% in that group saying they definitely will support their first-choice candidate and 81% saying that they could change their minds.
Former President Donald Trump performs significantly better than Vice President Joe Biden, with just 56%, or a little over half, of those polled by CNN believing that his election would be “a disaster or a setback.” A Trump victory, according to 43% of respondents, would be a “triumph or a step forward.”
“Views of Biden are sharply more negative than are views of each of the three living Democratic past presidents. Barack Obama is the most positively viewed of all the living presidents tested in the poll, 57% hold a favorable view, 35% an unfavorable one,” CNN reported, citing the survey.
Former President Donald Trump performs significantly better than Vice President Joe Biden, with just 56%, or a little over half, of those polled by CNN believing that his election would be “a disaster or a setback.” A Trump victory, according to 43% of respondents, would be a “triumph or a step forward.”
As he continued to deal with a number of international and local issues that some believe are blowing out of hand, Biden received more bad news last week.
“President Joe Biden’s job performance rating has mostly held steady for more than a year and currently stands at 44% approve vs. 56% disapprove in the latest Fox News national survey. That’s net negative by 12 points. The last time that he received positive marks was September 2021, and that was by 1 point (50%-49%),” Fox News reported.
“Approval of the president hovers at a low point among several key voting groups, including women (43% now vs. 42% low), voters ages 45+ (41% vs. 39% low), suburban voters (41% vs. 39% low), rural voters (31% vs. 30% low) and Democrats (81% vs. 78% low) – Democratic men in particular (79% vs. 78% low). He’s at a low mark of 41% approval among suburban women,” the report added.
A majority of people disapprove of Biden’s handling of these important problems, according to the poll, which found 53% disapproving of national security, 54% disapproving of foreign policy, 60% disapproving of border security, and 64% disapproving of his handling of the economy.
“Biden’s numbers cratered in the fall of 2021 after the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and the onset of hyperinflation,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Since then, his approval has barely moved, despite a midterm election, economic ups and downs, and several legislative policy rollouts.”
In the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, President Biden’s approval rating fell to 38% from February’s reading of 45% and January’s reading of 41%.
