US President Joe Biden would likely lose a rematch against his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, if the election were held now, according to polls from the New York Times/Siena College and CBS/YouGov published on Sunday.
The New York Times poll showed
Trump leading Biden significantly in five of the six critical ‘swing states,’
holding an 11-point lead in Nevada and smaller margins across Georgia, Arizona,
Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Only Wisconsin favored Biden – and only by a
two-point margin.
Two thirds of respondents said
the US was moving in the wrong direction, and a majority across all
demographics claimed Biden’s policies had personally hurt them. Nearly three
quarters (71%) said the president was too old to serve effectively – including
more than half of his own supporters – while 62% said he lacked the mental
acuity for the job.
Close to six in ten (59%)
likely voters trusted Trump over Biden on the economy – rated as the most
important issue of the 2024 election by a majority of respondents – and the
preference for Trump held true across all education and income levels, ages,
and genders.
Just 2% of respondents – and
less than 1% of those under 30 – claimed the economy was 'excellent',
potentially explaining Biden’s flagging support among young voters, who
overwhelmingly chose him in 2020 but favored him by just one point over Trump
in Sunday’s poll.
The CBS poll put Trump ahead of
Biden by three points, echoing the NYT’s findings that voters are pinning their
economic hopes on the Republican. Nearly half (45%) of those polled said they’d
be better off financially if Trump returned to the White House, compared to
just 18% predicting a rosy economic future under Biden, though a majority (51%)
expected both candidates’ policies to favor the wealthy over the working and
middle classes. At the same time, 48% expected to be financially worse off if
Biden won a second term, while 32% felt the same about Trump.
Trump was also seen as less
belligerent. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents thought he would increase
peace and stability in the world, compared to just 31% who felt the same about
Biden. While 39% of likely voters still believed Trump would increase the odds
of the US entering another war, nearly half (49%) expected Biden to do so.
Voters’ own preferences were
overwhelmingly for avoiding foreign wars, with 72% of respondents agreeing the
US should “try to stay out of other countries’ affairs” and just 35%
prioritizing the projection of military power over the promotion of American
ideals as a foreign policy goal. Still, a slim majority supported sending
military aid to both Israel (55%) and Ukraine (53%).
Post a Comment