A recent survey has revealed that Donald Trump is currently leading US President Joe Biden in popularity, despite the ongoing campaign and criminal trial against Trump.
The latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS indicates that a majority of Americans consider Trump’s presidency to be successful, while a significant number believe that Biden’s presidency has been a failure thus far.
Trump’s support among registered voters remains steady at 49% in a head-to-head matchup against Biden, which is consistent with CNN’s previous national poll in January. On the other hand, Biden’s support stands at 43%, not significantly different from January’s poll, which recorded 45%.
The poll also highlights that 55% of all Americans now view Trump’s previous presidency as a success, while 44% perceive it as a failure. In contrast, a poll conducted in January 2021, just before Trump left office and shortly after the attack on the US Capitol, revealed that 55% considered his time as president a failure.
As for Biden, 61% of respondents believe his presidency has been a failure so far, while 39% consider it a success. This is slightly worse than the assessment of his first year in office in January 2022, where 57% labelled it a failure and 41% considered it a success.
Interestingly, Republicans are more united in their belief that Trump’s presidency was a success compared to Democrats’ agreement on Biden’s success.
Overall, 92% of Republicans view Trump’s term as a success, while only 73% of Democrats believe Biden’s presidency has been successful thus far. Among independents, 51% perceive Trump’s presidency as successful, while only 37% see Biden’s as a success.
In terms of specific policy areas, 45% of respondents approve of Biden’s handling of health care policy, and 44% approve of his approach to student loan debt.
However, his handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza receives only 28% approval, with 71% expressing disapproval. Notably, disapproval is particularly high among those under 35, with 81% disapproving and a majority of Democrats also expressing disapproval (53%).
Furthermore, a significant majority of Americans, 70%, believe that economic conditions in the US are currently unfavourable. Many, especially Republicans, hold the view that their perception of the economy would be more influenced by a political shift rather than a change in the economy itself.
When considering all voters, including independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green Party candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein in the race, Trump received 42% of the support compared to Biden’s 33%. Kennedy garners 16% of the support, West receives 4%, and Stein receives 3%. In a two-way matchup, Kennedy draws 13% of both Biden and Trump supporters.
The CNN poll, conducted by SSRS from April 18 to 23, surveyed a random national sample of 1,212 adults, including 967 registered voters, using a probability-based panel.
