Joe Biden is losing ground to his Republican rival Donald Trump, who is ahead of him in a poll published on Saturday by the New York Times newspaper, showing a worrying trend among some Democratic voters for the current American president.
The release of this survey comes eight months before the November elections and four days before Super Tuesday, a crucial meeting in which 15 states organize their Democratic and Republican primaries simultaneously. The nomination of Joe Biden and Donald Trump by their respective parties is almost guaranteed.
According to voters, the economy is doing (very) badly
If voters were to choose their president today, 43% would vote for Mr. Biden, compared to 48% for Mr. Trump, according to this national poll by the New York Times and Siena College.
The 81-year-old Democratic president may insist with supportive numbers that the economy is doing well, “only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction,” with “a majority of voters thinking (that). “The economy is doing badly,” the newspaper says.
“A series of alarming signals”
That poll revealed “a series of alarming signals for the president about weaknesses within the Democratic camp, particularly among women, black and Latino voters” and some blue-collar voters, the New York Times wrote.
Despite his numerous legal setbacks, Donald Trump's control of the Republican Party is, on the contrary, leading to a more “unified” camp: the ex-president “wins 97% of the votes of those who say they voted for him four years ago, and virtually none.” “ of his former supporters have said they want to vote for Joe Biden.”
Conversely, “Joe Biden received just 83% of his voters in 2020, with 10% of them saying they now support Donald Trump,” the New York Times added.
In addition to the economy, the 81-year-old President Biden's age and his firm support for Israel, which is engaged in the Gaza war, also explain the unease among part of the Democratic electorate.