Donald Trump Stung as New Poll Shows How Unpopular He Is
Donald Trump continues to have a low favorability score among Americans, new polling shows, despite being the likely Republican nominee after winning the lion's share of primaries and seeing off his only remaining rival.
An ABC News/Ipsos survey of 536 U.S. adults, conducted between March 8-9, found that 29 percent have a favorable view of the former president compared to 59 percent who view him unfavorably.
It came after Trump secured all but one of the primaries on Super Tuesday—giving him 1,075 out of 1,215 delegates he needs to become the presumptive Republican nominee—which prompted former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley to drop out of the race to leave him unopposed. Primaries being held on Tuesday could push Trump over the line.
Trump's popularity has remained largely unchanged since last summer. In similar polls conducted last year, which have a margin of error of 4.5 percent either way, he has hovered around a 30 percent favorability rating.
That rating dipped to 25 percent—with 61 percent viewing him unfavorably—at the start of April last year, immediately after he became the first president in U.S. history to be indicted with criminal charges, which he denies, in New York.
Newsweek approached the Trump campaign via email for comment on Monday.
The same ABC/Ipsos poll found that President Joe Biden, who is on course to be renominated by the Democratic Party, is also viewed as similarly unpopular, though his unfavorability rating is slightly lower.
Some 33 percent viewed the incumbent favorably to 54 percent who viewed him unfavorably. In November, a similar poll put his unfavorability rating at 50 percent with his favorability unchanged, while in prior polls the two ratings have modulated around the same numbers.
Neither candidate is viewed as more popular than unpopular, recent polling has consistently shown, with more people disapproving of both than approving. Analysts have said that both will struggle to entice voters to turn out for the election due to their disenchantment with the choice of candidates.
The latest ABC/Ipsos poll found that 36 percent thought Trump was trusted to do a better job as president to 33 percent who thought Joe Biden would—but 30 percent thought neither would.
The two candidates have been running neck and neck in national polls, with just a few percentage points separating them.
Trump may suffer from becoming the first former president to now face four criminal trials—which he claims are politically motivated—which are due to take place while he is campaigning for the 2024 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At the same time, Biden, already the oldest serving president in U.S. history at 81, has faced concerns about his age and mental acuity over a number of public gaffes, which Republicans have used to imply Biden is unfit to continue as president for another term.
If re-elected, he would be 86 by the end of his second term. But the president has brushed off queries about his physical and mental health, telling a news conference in February that his "memory is fine" and "I know what the hell I'm doing."
Recent polling also shows that nearly half of U.S. adults think Trump, 77, is too old to serve another term, and the former president has also faced questions about his mental agility.
Biden has been criticized for his approach to undocumented immigration into the U.S. and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Around two thirds of voters disapproved of his handling of immigration and the Middle Eastern conflict, the ABC/Ipsos poll found.
Some of this dissent has come from Democrats who have threatened not to vote for the president over the situation in Gaza. However, political scientists have suggested Biden's base will hold their nose over the issue when faced with the prospect of a Trump victory.
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