Just a third of Americans say President Joe Biden deserves to be reelected, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as a majority in his party say they would like to see someone else as the Democratic nominee for president next year.
The survey fielded throughout the month of March and was completed almost entirely before a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump last week. It cannot reflect any shifts in public opinion after news of that vote was revealed. CNN polling released Monday, which was conducted after the vote to indict him, suggested that it had little effect on views of Trump himself.
The March poll suggests that just before the indictment, the uptick in views of Biden that had seemed to have been sparked by Democrats outperforming expectations in the 2022 midterms had stalled. The poll finds Biden’s approval rating at 42% overall, with 57% disapproving. In January, 45% approved and 55% disapproved. That shift falls within the poll’s margin of error and is not statistically significant.
On major issues, Biden’s numbers are also stagnant. His approval ratings for handling immigration (35% approve), the economy (37%) and gun policy (37%) all fall significantly below his overall approval rating. On national security (44% approve) and the US relationship with China (40% approve), his numbers are about the same as his overall approval rating. The only issue on which Biden significantly outperforms his overall standing is environmental policy, and even there, most disapprove (46% approve, 52% disapprove).
The poll also finds negative views of Biden persist across several personal attributes, with majorities saying he does not have the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president (67%), does not inspire confidence (65%), is not honest and trustworthy (54%) and does not care about people like them (54%). Americans are more evenly split over whether Biden can work effectively with Congress – 48% say he can, 51% that he cannot.
All told, just 32% say that Biden deserves reelection to the presidency, down 5 points since December and about on par with the 33% who said the same about Trump in November 2017. The largest shifts come among younger adults, with just 26% of those younger than 35 saying Biden deserves another term in the new poll, down from 36% in December, and among liberals, shifting from 63% saying he deserved reelection in December to 53% now.