President Joe Biden got some terrible news from a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Biden’s approval ratings hit a new low as doubts grow about his mental acuity,
Biden’s job approval rating is at 36%. It was 42% in February. His disapproval number is at 56 percent. 47 percent disapprove “strongly” of Biden. Ouch. In a head-to-head matchup, the ABC poll has Donald Trump beating Joe Biden 49-42.
And the poll has DeSantis beating Biden 48-41. George Stephanopoulos was stunned at the poll numbers when ABC reported them and said it was ‘brutal’ for Biden.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Rick, this is just brutal for President Biden.
RICK KLEIN: Absolutely George, and you talked earlier about that record low approval rating for President Biden, it’s actually six points down just since February.
And the skepticism over his leadership extends deep inside his own party only 36 percent of Democrats think that their party should nominate Joe Biden for a second term. 58 percent say they would support someone else, prefer someone else.
That’s despite the fact that the entire DNC, most of the Democratic establishment has rallied behind President Biden and you’re seeing real weaknesses in the coalition that powered Joe Biden to the presidency back in 2020. Biden carried independents by 13 points against Donald Trump.
He is now trailing Trump by nine points, among those same voters. He carried black voters by 75 points in 2020. Now he is up just 35. That may sound like a lot but the fact of the matter is in modern politics, that is not the kind of number that a Democrat needs to be victorious.
And then of course that does spill over into the head-to-head matchup, a hypothetical rematch, Trump versus Biden.
Right now a seven-point edge in our poll from in Trump leading Biden and in fact that’s an identical number with Ron DeSantis in a head-to-head that might happen next November. That tells us at this very early stage, George that this race is shaping up a lot more about the incumbent president, Joe Biden than it is about any of his challenges.
KLEIN: Despite all of that, despite the strength that we are seeing for Donald Trump right now, a strong majority of Americans think he should be facing criminal charges across a range of investigations including on this one 56 percent say that he should face charges over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
What’s interesting to me about this, George, is that even among that 56 percent, the people that think that yes, Trump should face criminal charges, 18 percent say they would vote for Donald Trump over Joe Biden anyway. That tells you a lot about Trump’s potential strength but maybe more than that, some of Biden’s weaknesses.
And that question of age that you mentioned earlier, that Joe Biden has been trying to address. Donald Trump is less than four years younger than Joe Biden but the concerns over Biden’s age are much more significant. 68 of voters say they think that Joe Biden is too old for an additional term. Only 44 percent say the same about Donald Trump.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Rick, I got to admit, I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. You’ve got one in five people who say believe President Trump should face criminal charges but they’d still vote for him?
KLEIN: It is remarkable and I do think once there’s a matchup with an actual person, maybe that changes. But that just tells you about how much Trump is kind of baked into the political equation.
“Because I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people,” Biden said recently as to why he is running.
“And I’m more experienced than anybody that’s ever run for the office. And I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective.”
“This poll is just brutal for President Biden” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos stunned by the results of the Washington Post/ABC news poll showing Trump beating Biden and concerns about his age. pic.twitter.com/DooRF7w68N
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) May 7, 2023
