Donald Trump Gets Boost Over Joe Biden Ahead of First Debate
FILE - In this combination of photos, President Joe Biden, left, speaks on Aug. 10, 2023, in Salt Lake City, and former President Donald Trump speaks on June 13, 2023, in Bedminster, N.J. The former president will face his Democratic rival in a debate on Thursday.
Donald Trump has scored a boost over Joe Biden ahead of their first 2024 presidential debate, with the former president viewed more favorably across multiple areas, according to a new poll.
A new Gallup survey of 1,005 adults across 50 U.S. states between June 3 and 23 revealed that nearly twice as many Republicans (79 percent) are pleased that Trump is their nominee than Democrats are with Biden (42 percent).
This is substantial change from four years ago, when 56 percent of Democrats were satisfied with Biden as their candidate. In contrast, Trump's favorability in this area only dropped by two percentage points from 81 percent. The margin of error was +/- four percentage points.
Overall, the findings still showed that both candidates are viewed negatively by a majority of voters, but Biden's favorability has worsened in recent years, while Trump's has improved.
The data shows that only 37 percent of respondents view Biden favorably, his lowest percentage since 2007 and down from a high of 59 percent in 2021.
In contrast, 46 percent of respondents view Trump favorably, his highest rating since April 2020 and up four percentage points from the previous reading in December 2023.
On the question of age, nearly twice as many adults (67 percent) believe Biden is too old to be president, compared to 37 percent who say the same about Trump.
Biden, 81, is only three years older than Trump, 78.
The findings also revealed that a combined 76 percent of respondents were concerned that Biden is too old for the job, while only 38 percent were concerned about Trump.
Separately, more U.S. adults overall believed Trump has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have on 46 percent, compared to 38 percent for Biden.
Among Republicans, 87 percent believe Trump has these qualities, compared to only four percent for Biden. And among Democrats, 81 percent believe Biden possesses these qualities, while 10 percent believe the same of Trump.
Meanwhile, the findings also revealed that 49 percent of respondents agree with Trump on the issues that matter most to them, compared to 37 percent for Biden.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment.
Mark Shanahan, an American politics expert from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, told Newsweek in May that Biden was struggling to get his economic message to resonate with the public.
"Biden still is not getting the message on economic recovery through anything like as strongly as he should—and being able to see the states where he's performing poorest should help him hone specific messages for those swing states in the West, upper Midwest and South East that will be the key battlegrounds in November," Shanahan said.
"It will be worrying for his campaign that although Biden has been visible in the swing states, his rival, who has largely been stuck in a New York courtroom, is still seen to have more effective economic policies. Clearly, just attacking his opponent isn't going to work for Biden—he needs to be able to point to clear, evidenced, policy successes to show how his administration is making a positive difference in states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania."
S. Jay Olshansky, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois Chicago, told Newsweek earlier this week that Trump and Biden's debate performances on Thursday evening in Atlanta may not sway people's concerns about their age. Olshansky said many viewers may experience "confirmation bias" while watching the debate.
"People favoring Biden will interpret whatever former President Trump says as coming from someone that is not mentally fit for the presidency, regardless of what is said and how it is said. The same will happen among former President Trump supporters as they watch President Biden during the debates," he said.
He said the general public will not be able to "reliably gauge" either candidate's mental fitness based on the debate, and the only people capable of providing a medical assessment are their physicians.
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