A recent poll shows that former president Donald Trump is the favored candidate compared to President Joe Biden on most key issues concerning American voters.
On March 10, results from a new ABC/Ipsos survey were released, revealing which of the two likely presidential candidates have the most support from voters on key issues.
Biden has long been the highest polling Democratic candidate and Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee after his primary opponent Nikki Haley dropped out of the race in light of major Super Tuesday losses.
Americans are split on whom they trust to do a better job leading the country: Biden, Trump or neither. 36% of Americans trust Trump to do a better job leading as president, while 33% trust Biden and 30% trust neither, an @ABC News/Ipsos poll finds. https://t.co/CL8zyK25Zn
— ABC News (@ABC) March 11, 2024
The poll surveyed 536 American adults between March 8 and 9. Out of its participants, 36% expressed overall support for leaving the nation to Trump’s leadership compared to the 33% of those who said they trust Biden to lead the country. Meanwhile, 30% revealed that they did not trust either candidate to re-enter the White House.
Overall, Biden is viewed positively by 33% of voters and negatively by 54% in the general category of “favorable or unfavorable impression.” Trump received 29% and 59% results for the same question.
The poll questioned participants about their views on how both Biden and Trump “handled” key voter issues like immigration, abortion, crime and the economy. When asked how well each candidate managed various issues, 49% favored Trump’s economic efforts compared to the 37% who preferred Biden’s approach.
Similarly, Trump received a 45% approval rating related to inflation while Biden claimed only 31%. The two candidates came closer in the category of crime, with the Republican earning 41% and the Democrat 35%. One of the most highly debated issues — immigration — saw a considerable difference as voters favored Trump (45%) to Biden (29%).
The only categories in which the sitting president outperformed his GOP rival were climate change (42%) and abortion (47%). Trump earned approval ratings of 33% and 35%, respectively. Biden’s management of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas also lowered significantly in the past five months. The new poll shows that his approach to the conflict is only supported by 30% whereas his efforts were previously approved by 41% at the start of the war in Oct. 2023.
The ABC/Ipsos survey is the latest poll showing the overall higher approval ratings for Trump compared to Biden.
However, a Dec. 2023 poll issued by Reuters and Ipsos revealed that the numbers make for a close presidential race if the two are the final candidates come November. At the time, Trump was the national favorite by two percentage points. Biden, though, was up four points in key states.
The sitting president’s primary obstacles appear to be voters’ concern about his age and the questionable state of the economy while Trump’s potential downside is the significant number of voters who have expressed they will not vote for him if he is convicted of criminal wrongdoing through the various legal battles he faces.
