Joe Biden also has an advantage over Donald Trump on health policy: 40% to 29%: Report (File)
Washington:
American voters see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the best candidate for the economy, but prefer his Democratic rival President Joe Biden’s approach to preserving democracy, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The three-day poll that concluded Sunday showed that less than five months before the Nov. 5 election, the electorate is divided on the candidates’ approach to the issues that respondents consider the top two problems facing the nation. .
Biden’s approval rating, measured among all respondents in the survey, rose marginally to 37% from 36% in May, when it tied the lowest reading of his presidency. Many Democrats fear that Biden could be hurt by voter concerns about his age (at 81, he is the oldest U.S. president to serve in office) and disapproval within his party for his support of Israel’s war on Hamas.
When asked which of the two candidates had a better approach to the economy (respondents’ top concern), registered voters chose Trump 43% to 37%. Voters have been hit by several years of rapidly rising consumer prices, although inflation has slowed sharply in recent months and the unemployment rate has been below 4% for more than two years.
The Republican had a more significant advantage (44% to 31%) on immigration. Immigrants made up 13.9% of the country in 2022, the highest proportion in more than a century. Trump has taken aim at immigrants who are in the country illegally. Trump garnered 40% to 35% support on foreign conflicts and terrorism.
But Biden had an edge over Trump in responding to political extremism and threats to democracy, respondents’ second concern, with registered voters choosing the Democrat over Trump by 39% to 33%.
Trump, who was convicted last month on criminal charges of falsifying business records, is awaiting three more criminal trials, two of which are tied to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. Trump, who falsely claims that his 2020 election loss was due to fraud, included the claim in a fiery speech shortly before hundreds of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Biden also had an advantage over Trump on health policy: 40% to 29%. Biden was vice president in 2010 when then-President Barack Obama pushed through Congress historic health reform that dramatically increased access to health insurance.
Previous Reuters/Ipsos polls have shown Biden and Trump neck and neck in the presidential race, although several polls in battleground states have shown Trump in the lead in recent months.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted nationally and online, collected responses from 1,019 American adults, including 856 registered voters. It had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points for all respondents and 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.
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