By Manzanita Miller
Despite having upside-down approval ratings on virtually all key issues – including strong negative rankings on immigration, the economy, foreign policy, and crime – President Joe Biden is supposedly closing the gap against former President Donald Trump.
A blistering new poll from the New York Times reveals that only a quarter of Americans believe the Biden years have been “mostly good” for the country while nearly twice as many (46%) say the past four years have been “mostly bad”.
Americans give former President Trump higher marks on a variety of rankings, from the economy to immigration, and Biden is underwater by double digits on all major issue categories. However, the poll shows Trump’s lead over Biden narrowing compared to previous Times polls and indicates that Democrats are consolidating around Biden despite widespread belief that he is a poor choice.
According to the poll, Trump and Biden are in a virtual tie, with Trump earning 46 percent of the vote to Biden’s 45 percent, a reversal from February polling when Trump lead Biden 48 percent to 43 percent.
Americans are as frustrated as ever with Biden’s performance, and largely disapprove of his handling of key issues. Only a quarter of the country says the Biden years have been “mostly good” for Americans, while nearly twice that amount – 46 percent – say the Biden years have been “mostly bad”.
There is a strong difference between how voters feel the Biden years have been for the country and how voters reflect on the Trump years. Americans say by nine points – 42 percent to 33 percent – that the Trump years were mostly good for the country. This gives Trump a 17-point lead over Biden in terms of how voters view each president’s impact on the nation.
Swing voters reflect favorably on former President Trump’s impact on the country according to the poll. Hispanics say by eight percentage points – 41 percent to 33 percent – that the Trump years were mostly good. Independents say by twelve points – 43 percent to 31 percent – that the Trump years were mostly good. Millennials say by five points the Trump years were mostly good.
In comparison, all three groups believe the Biden years were mostly bad for the county. Hispanics say by a 19-point margin – 38 percent to 19 percent – that the Biden years were mostly bad, and Independents agree by a 29-point margin – 50 percent to 21 percent. Millennials say by a 2-point margin – 45 percent to 20 percent – that the Biden years were mostly bad.
While key groups of swing voters Biden won easily in 2020 remain highly skeptical of Biden’s impact on the nation, his numbers have nonetheless inched upward against Trump compared to polls taken earlier in the spring. As we noted recently, Biden has made accelerated gains among older voters, and we pointed out three reasons this could be.
On key issues, voters support Trump’s approach more than they oppose it. On the economy in particular, voters say by two to one margin – 64 percent to 33 percent – they approve of the way Trump handled the economy. On Trump’s handling of immigration, maintaining law and order, and foreign conflict, Trump also enjoys positive marks.
When polled on how they view Biden’s handling of the same issues, the results are bleak. On the economy, Biden’s numbers are a mirror opposite of Trump’s. A full 63 percent of voters say they disapprove of how Biden has handled the economy, while just 34 percent approve.
Biden’s numbers are also upside down on all four key issues – immigration, foreign conflicts, the Supreme Court, and maintaining law and order. On immigration, Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the issue by thirty-two points – 64 percent to 32 percent. On foreign conflict, Americans disapprove by twenty-five points – 61 percent to 36 percent. On the Supreme Court Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling by fourteen points – 51 percent to 37 percent. And on maintaining law and order, Americans disapprove of Biden’s job by thirteen points – 55 percent to 42 percent.
Voters largely believe Trump left the country better off than when he took office and give him significantly higher rankings than Biden on major issues, so why is Biden allegedly closing the gap? The smear campaign against Trump is deep-rooted and unrelenting, and even if Americans view Biden as utterly incompetent, fighting the powerful interests that do not want to see a second Trump-term is not for the faint of heart. What is undeniable is that across a range of issues, Americans strongly favor the way Trump governed. Whether that will be the deciding factor in November is yet to be seen.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
