Trump maintains lead over Biden as views on their presidencies diverge CNN poll

Donald Trump continues to hold an advantage over President Joe Biden as the campaign – and the former president’s criminal trial – move forward, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

And in the coming rematch, opinions about the first term of each man vying for a second four years in the White House now appear to work in Trump’s favor, with most Americans saying that, looking back, Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure.

Trump’s support in the poll among registered voters holds steady at 49 per cent in a head-to-head matchup against Biden, the same as in CNN’s last national poll on the race in January, while Biden’s stands at 43 per cent, not significantly different from January’s 45 per cent.

Looking back, 55 per cent of all Americans now say they see Trump’s presidency as a success, while 44 per cent see it as a failure. In a January 2021 poll taken just before Trump left office and days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, 55 per cent considered his time as president a failure.

Assessing Biden’s time in office so far, 61 per cent say his presidency thus far has been a failure, while 39 per cent say it’s been a success. That’s narrowly worse than the 57 per cent who called the first year of his administration a failure in January 2022, with 41 per cent calling it a success.

Republicans now are more unified around the idea that Trump’s presidency was a success than Democrats are that Biden’s has been one. Overall, 92 per cent of Republicans call Trump’s time in office a success, while just 73 per cent of Democrats say Biden’s has been a success so far. Among independents, 51 per cent say Trump’s presidency was successful, while only 37 per cent see Biden’s as a success.

There is some overlap in views of the two most recent presidents’ achievements, with 14 per cent of Americans saying they consider both are failures, while 8 per cent say both are successes. About half of registered voters, 47 per cent, consider Biden’s presidency thus far to be a failure while saying Trump’s was a success, while only 30 per cent say Biden’s has been successful and that Trump’s was not. Public opinion of former presidents generally rises in retrospect, although no other modern president has attempted a similar return to power after an electoral loss.

Negative views of Biden’s work in office have held for much of his presidency. In the new poll, 60 per cent disapprove of his handling of the job and 40 per cent approve, about the same as it’s been in CNN polling for more than a year. Even Biden’s strongest issue approval ratings in the poll are also in negative territory, with 45 per cent approving of his handling of health care policy and 44 per cent approving his handling of student loan debt. And his worst issue approval rating  – for his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza – yields 28 per cent approval to 71 per cent disapproval, including an 81 per cen disapproval mark among those younger than 35 and majority disapproval among Democrats (53 per cent).