There's no way around it—voters aren't particularly taken with President Joe Biden.
This month's Daily Kos/Civiqs poll surveyed whether voters generally like and trust Biden (versus whether they believe he is doing a good job). In other words, does the president have some soft appeal for voters even if they don't think he has necessarily turned the country around?
The news is not good: A majority of registered voters either somewhat or strongly dislike Biden; a majority say they either "mostly" don't trust Biden or don't trust him at all; and a nearly equal number of voters think he is a "bad person" as believe him to be a "good person."
Question 1: On a personal level, do you like or dislike Joe Biden?
Like, Dislike of Joe Biden
|
total |
democrat |
Republican |
Independent |
strongly like |
25% |
54% |
2% |
13% |
somewhat like |
16% |
28% |
2% |
16% |
somewhat dislike |
9% |
7% |
8% |
13% |
strongly dislike |
45% |
7% |
83% |
52% |
not much feeling either way |
5% |
4% |
4% |
6% |
Overall, 41% of voters like Biden, while 54% don’t. Among Democrats, 82% report liking Biden, but just 29% of independents do. In fact, a 52% majority of independents “strongly” dislike him.
Question 2: How much do you trust Joe Biden to tell you the truth about important issues in America today?
Trust in Joe Biden
|
Total |
Democrats |
Republicans |
Independents |
Trust Biden a lot |
22% |
48% |
1% |
12% |
mostly trust biden |
21% |
38% |
2% |
19% |
mostly don’t trust Biden |
7% |
5% |
7% |
10% |
do not trust biden at all |
48% |
7% |
90% |
57% |
unsure |
1% |
2% |
0% |
2% |
Overall, 43% of voters say they trust the president, while 55% don’t. Among Democrats, 86% trust Biden, but just 31% of independents do while 57% say they do not trust him at all.
Question 3: Do you think Joe Biden is fundamentally a good person or a bad person?
View Biden as a Good Person, Bad Person
|
Total |
Democrat |
Republican |
Independent |
Good person |
47% |
88% |
8% |
35% |
Bad person |
35% |
4% |
66% |
43% |
Neither good nor bad |
13% |
6% |
20% |
17% |
Unsure |
4% |
1% |
7% |
5% |
Overall, a 47% plurality of voters view President Biden as a good person, while just 35% categorize him as a bad person. But while 88% of Democrats see the president as fundamentally good, Biden is 8 points underwater among independents on the matter—leaving Democrats as the only group that mostly views Biden as a good person.
In terms of job approvals, Biden is hovering right around 40% in the FiveThirtyEight.com aggregate—also not great news.
Bottom line, most voters aren’t giving President Biden much credit for what he has accomplished (and he can claim some decent accomplishments amid unprecedented health and economic concerns). At the same time, voters also don’t appear particularly fond of Biden on a personal level.
It’s hard to say whether the overall craziness of these times (e.g., pandemic, inflation, national upheaval, global instability) is simply impossible for a president to escape or whether people wouldn’t be warming to Biden even in a less chaotic political environment. But the answer to that question probably doesn’t matter much. Fair or unfair, many voters are expressing disappointment with the president and his leadership on multiple levels.