Joe Biden’s approval rating has fallen to a record low, with 60 per cent of Americans disapproving of his presidency, a new poll has found.
The president is on shaky ground, with a current approval rating – 37 per cent – at a low unseen since George W Bush’s second term according to figures released after a recent NBC News survey.
Respondents were asked about a hypothetical Trump-Biden election – with Trump seeing a five-point lead over the man he calls “sleepy Joe”.
Trump’s lead has only increased since November – back then, he led the sitting president by the barest of margins: 46 to 44 per cent support – now, he’s jumped to 47 to Biden’s 42.
Trump is more competent and effective than the president, the poll says
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Biden has a mountain to climb on certain issues – despite sturdy economic growth under his premiership, he trails challenger Donald Trump by a shocking 20 points on handling the economy, and an even greater 30 points on handling immigration.
Trump is more competent and effective than the president, and support for Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war sits at a lowly 29 per cent, the poll says.
President Biden is losing ground among Latin voters, 18-34-year-olds and independents, with the three groups respectively reporting 35, 29 and 27 per cent approval rates of his job performance.
All is not lost for Biden – the last time NBC posed a poll like this was in October 2020, and despite a seven-point lead for then-President Trump, Biden surged to victory in November’s election.
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President Biden is losing ground among multiple key demographics, but can take solace in the fact he has months yet until election day
PAThe incumbent president also enjoys key advantages over Trump with black, female and white college-educated voters, who have shown 75, 50 and 50 per cent approval rates respectively.
The poll was conducted by a bipartisan coupling of Hart Research Associates’ Jeff Horwitt, and Public Opinion Strategies’ Bill McInturff.
McInturff was bearish on Biden’s prospects, and said: “It is hard to imagine a more difficult set of numbers before a re-election.”
Horwitt said: “What is most concerning is the erosion of Biden’s standing against Trump compared to four years ago.
“On every measure compared to 2020, Biden has declined. Most damning, the belief that Biden is more likely to be up to the job – the chief tenet of the Biden candidacy – has evaporated.
“Biden can take solace that we are in January and not October 2024. At this stage in prior cycles, attitudes can change.”
The issue which threatens to unravel Trump’s hopeful polling is his chance of being convicted – in that scenario, Biden would inch ahead to a two-point lead.
Though recent rumours of a shock Michelle Obama candidacy could put a spanner in the works for the president – a strong third-party candidate like the former First Lady would likely split Biden’s vote share and hand Trump a crucial six-point lead.