A poll by The Washington Post and ABC news conducted from 15 to 20 September shows Donald Trump leading in the 2024 election race – Joe Biden’s approval rating is 10 percentage points lower.
American voters are dissatisfied with the incumbent president’s economic and migration policies, as well as his indefinite and overly generous support for Ukraine. His advanced age also causes concern. The Washington Post writes about it.
Support for the candidacy of Biden and Trump
Most likely, Biden and Trump will have a rematch next year, but it will be possible to say for sure only after the party conventions in 2024, where one presidential candidate each from Democrats and Republicans will be approved.
As of today, 60 per cent of Americans who sympathise with the Democratic Party would prefer to see someone other than Biden as their candidate. Despite this, the incumbent president is still the “strongest” one the Democrats can field in 2024, and therefore the most likely option.
Unlike Biden, Trump’s candidacy is almost uncontroversial. He is favoured by 54% of Americans who intend to vote for the Republican candidate. By comparison, his closest rival – Florida Governor Ron Desantis – is supported by just 15%.
Growing dissatisfaction with Biden’s policies
Despite the active implementation of “Bidenomics” – a set of measures aimed at stabilising the US economy after the COVID-19 epidemic, the majority of Americans believe that the incumbent president is not coping with economic problems. 75% believe the U.S. economy is “not in good shape.” 57% believe the Biden administration has not done enough to combat unemployment. 87% are dissatisfied with gas and other energy prices, and 91% are dissatisfied with food prices. The most telling figure is this: 44% of Americans believe they have become poorer during Biden’s presidency.
As the poll showed, 62% of American voters also disapprove of the incumbent president’s migration policy. This is not surprising: last week, for example, Biden announced that he would grant “temporary work permits to nearly 500,000 Venezuelans.”
Public opinion on the extent of U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine has also shifted. While in April 2022 only 14 per cent of Americans thought the US was doing too much for Ukraine, in September 2023 41 per cent of respondents thought so. At the same time, Biden continues to advocate a course of indefinite support for Ukraine: on 22 September, the American president met with Zelenskyy at the White House and approved a new package of military aid for the Ukrainian armed forces.
The issue of old age affects the ratings of both Biden and Trump. But it is the incumbent president who is most often affected: Biden would have turned 82 at the start of his second term, The Washington Post notes. Trump, on the other hand, would have turned 78.
According to the poll, fewer people approve of Biden’s job as president – the rating dropped from 42 per cent in February to 37 per cent in September. At the same time, 48% of respondents approve of Trump’s presidency – 10 percentage points more than in January 2021, when the former president resigned.
Daniil Korobko, AiF