By Mark Murray -
NBC News
Despite a growing economy and little opposition for his party's nomination, President Joe Biden faces a dissatisfied electorate and a challenging political climate nine months before his re-election vote, a new national network poll revealed. NBC News.
Biden trails Republican nominee Donald Trump in major political and personal comparisons, including by 20 points when asked which candidate would best handle the economy.
The gap between the two is greater when it comes to the issue of immigration and the southern border, with a difference of 30 points.
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The poll also shows Trump maintaining an average lead of 16 points over Biden when it comes to being competent and effective;
a change from 2020, when Biden was ahead of Trump by nine points in this category, before beating him in the election.
Biden's approval ratings have fallen to their lowest point during his presidency: 37%
, according to the NBC News poll, while fewer than three in ten voters approve of his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Adding all the results together, the poll shows Trump ahead of Biden by five points (47% to 42%) among registered voters in a hypothetical presidential election.
Although the total is within the margins of error, the last year of polls shows a clear change.
The president, Joe Biden, in a photo from January 27, 2024. Kent Nishimura / AFP - Getty Images
Perhaps the best news in the poll for Biden is that he is ahead when voters were asked their voting option if the former president is convicted of a serious crime.
However, they are only two points in his favor, also low in the margin of error.
Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff and his team at Public Opinion Strategies, said
these findings show "a presidency in danger
. "
"What's most concerning is the erosion of Biden's standing against Trump compared to four years ago," Horwitt said.
"In every category, when compared to 2020, Biden has fallen. More seriously, the belief that Biden is better suited for the office, the focus of his candidacy, has evaporated."
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McInturff, the Republican pollster, added:
"It's hard to imagine a tougher set of numbers before a re-election."
But Horwitt believes Biden still has time to change voters' perceptions.
"Biden can take solace in the fact that we are in January and not October 2024. At this stage in previous cycles, attitudes can change," he said.
The NBC News poll, which was conducted between January 26 and 30, comes after Trump won his party's nomination primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, as the Israel-Hamas war enters its grip. fourth month and among the positive news that consumer confidence has grown and that more than 300,000 jobs were created last month.
It was carried out, however, before the United States launched a series of airstrikes in response to the deaths of three soldiers on duty in Jordan.
"Inflation is going down, jobs are growing. We created 800,000 jobs in manufacturing," Biden said in Michigan on Thursday.
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Despite those statistics, Trump has a 22-point advantage — 55% versus 33% — over Biden in the question of who would do a better job managing the economy.
Trump also has the advantage in securing the border and controlling immigration (35 points over Biden), in having the mental and physical health to be president (+23), in dealing with crime and violence (+21), in being competent and effective (+16), and in improving the United States' position in the world (+11), according to the survey.
Biden beats Trump on dealing with abortion (+12) and protecting immigrant rights (+17).
Both are almost tied on protecting democracy with 43% of voters in favor of Biden and 41% for Trump.
The NBC News poll also found that Biden's approval rating fell to a new record with 37% of registered voters approving and 60% disapproving, lower than November's score of 40% versus 57%.
Biden's current ratings are the lowest for any president in the network's poll since former President George W. Bush's second term.
The rates have also fallen especially among Latinos (only 35% now approve of his performance), voters between the ages of 18 and 34 (29%) and independents (27%).
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Among those under 35, only 15% approve of Biden's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, while an overwhelming 70% disapprove.
"What affects Biden most is his difficulties with young voters," said Horwitt, the Democratic pollster.