The share of voters who strongly disapprove of President Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES / SIENA COLLEGE POLL
If the 2024 presidential election
were held today, who would you
vote for if the candidates were
Joe Biden and Donald Trump?
Trump
48%
Biden
43%
Don’t know/
refused
10%
THE NEW YORK TIMES / SIENA COLLEGE POLL
If the 2024 presidential election were held today, who would you vote for if the candidates were Joe Biden and Donald Trump?
Trump
48%
Biden
43%
Don’t know/
refused
10%
Note: Figures may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.
Source: Based on a New York Times/Siena College poll of 980 registered voters conducted Feb. 25 to 28, 2024.
By Molly Cook Escobar
By Shane Goldmacher
March 2, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET
President Biden is struggling to overcome doubts about his leadership inside his own party and broad dissatisfaction over the nation’s direction, leaving him trailing behind Donald J. Trump just as their general-election contest is about to begin, a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College has found.
With eight months left until the November election, Mr. Biden’s 43 percent support lags behind Mr. Trump’s 48 percent in the national survey of registered voters.
Only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction. More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition. And the share of voters who strongly disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency.
The poll offers an array of warning signs for the president about weaknesses within the Democratic coalition, including among women, Black and Latino voters. So far, it is Mr. Trump who has better unified his party, even amid an ongoing primary contest.
Mr. Biden has marched through the early nominating states with only nominal opposition. But the poll showed that Democrats remain deeply divided about the prospect of Mr. Biden, the 81-year-old chief executive, leading the party again. About as many Democratic primary voters said Mr. Biden should not be the nominee in 2024 as said he should be — with opposition strongest among voters younger than 45 years old.
Mr. Trump’s ability to consolidate the Republican base better than Mr. Biden has unified the base of his own party shows up starkly in the current thinking of 2020 voters. Mr. 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 are casting a ballot for Mr. Biden. In contrast, Mr. Biden is winning only 83 percent of his 2020 voters, with 10 percent saying they now back Mr. Trump.
What comes closer to how you feel about Joe Biden or Donald Trump being the nominee for president?
Biden
Trump
Enthusiastic
23%
48%
Satisfied, but
not enthusiastic
43%
32%
Dissatisfied, but
not upset
26%
9%
Angry
6%
9%
Don’t know/
refused
2%
2%
What comes closer to how you feel about Joe Biden or Donald Trump being the nominee for president?
Biden
Trump
48%
23%
Enthusiastic
Satisfied, but
not enthusiastic
32%
43%
Dissatisfied, but
not upset
9%
26%
6%
9%
Angry
Don’t know/
refused
2%
2%
Note: Figures may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.
Source: Based on a New York Times/Siena College poll of 980 registered voters conducted Feb. 25 to 28, 2024.
By Molly Cook Escobar
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Source: nytimes.com
