Eight months before the November election, national polls of registered voters show Biden’s 43 percent support lagging behind Trump’s 48 percent support, a poll by The New York Times and Siena College reveals.
A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College shows President Biden struggling to hold onto the presidency, putting him behind Donald Trump just about before the campaign trail begins. Biden’s support stands at 43 percent, and he trails Trump by 48 percent in a nationwide poll of registered voters.
The poll found that only one in four voters believe the country is headed in the right direction. More than twice as many voters believe Biden’s policies have hurt them personally than believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters believe the economy is in bad shape. And the share of voters who strongly disapprove of Biden’s job performance has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls throughout his presidency.
Participants in the Democratic primary have said Biden should not be the nominee in 2024, with opposition strongest among voters younger than 45. In addition, the poll offers a number of warning signs for the president about the weakness of the Democratic coalition, including among women, black and Hispanic voters.
By contrast, Trump is doing a better job of uniting his party despite the ongoing primaries. Trump is winning 97 percent of those who say they voted for him four years ago, and virtually none of his past supporters said they would vote for Biden. In contrast, Biden is only gaining 83 percent of voters who will vote for him in 2020, with 10 percent saying they now support Trump.
Among likely voters, Trump now leads by four percentage points. In last year’s poll, Trump led by two points among registered voters and Biden led by two points among the projected likely electorate.
Furthermore, the Democrats’ historic lead among working-class voters of colour who did not attend college continues to erode, which plays to Biden’s disadvantage, as today’s Times/Siena poll shows Biden only slightly leading among non-white voters who did not graduate from college: 47 percent versus 41 percent. In 2020, by comparison, Biden received 72 percent of such voters.
In addition, different treatment from the home parties is also showing up: 23 percent of Democratic primary voters said they were enthusiastic about Biden, half as many as among Republicans who said they were enthusiastic about Trump. 32 percent of Democrats said they were dissatisfied or angry with Biden as party leader, while only 18 percent were dissatisfied with Trump.
