Just 42 percent of Democrats in Gallup poll pleased with Biden as nominee
Less than 50 percent of Democrats in a new Gallup poll say they are happy that President Biden is their party's presidential nominee, compared to 79 percent of Republicans pollwed who say they are pleased former President Trump is their nominee.
The figures, released by Gallup as Biden and Trump meet for their first debate on Thursday night, raises more questions about whether an enthusiasm gap could hurt Biden in the matchup with his GOP rival this fall.
The Gallup poll found that more than 50 percent of Democrats said they would prefer another candidate to be their nominee.
Biden also lags behind Trump in overall favorability. Biden’s favorability rating as of June hovers around 37 percent, while Trump gets 46 percent. Biden’s June approval rating is the lowest reported by Gallup since the president took office.
The poll was taken June 3-23, and began a few days after the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts.
Trump holds a 44.7 percent to 43.9 percent lead in the polling average kept by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill.
Working against Biden in the Gallup poll are perceptions of his age, with Americans far more concerned that Biden, 81, is “too old” to be president than Trump, who is 78.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported they were very concerned with Biden’s age while just 18 percent reported the same of Trump. Forthy-one percent reported that they were “not concerned” that Trump was too old at all, while just 14 percent shared that view of Biden.
Biden also falls behind Trump in his ability to gain approval with voters on their key issues. Thirty-seven percent of respondents agreed with Biden “on the issues that matter most” to them, but 49 percent found themselves agreeing with Trump.
Trump has also turned a page since his first presidential run on perceptions of his qualifications to be president. In October of 2016, just 30 percent agreed he had the “personality and leadership qualities a president should have.” Now, the number has leaped to 46 percent, while 38 percent say Biden has the same qualities.
The Gallup poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,005 American adults. The margin of error for the total sample is 4 percentage points.