President Joe Biden is dangerously trailing Donald Trump in five of six key battleground states a year before the 2024 US election. A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College shows Biden trailing Trump by 4 to 10 percentage points among registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. The poll showed Biden leading by just 2 percentage points in Wisconsin alone. However, in these 6 states, Biden trailed Trump by an average of 48 to 44 percentage points in 2020 polls.
A majority of voters across the Times/Sienna poll say Biden’s policies have hurt them personally. The poll also reveals how strong support for the multiracial and multiracial coalition that elected Biden has become. Because two-thirds of voters see the country headed in the wrong direction. “I actually had high hopes for Biden,” said Jahmeri Henry, 25, from Georgia. But then things happen every year with inflation, the war in Ukraine, recently Israel and I guess our borders are not secure at all.’
Democrats and Biden-leaning black voters now register 22 percent support for Trump in these states, unprecedented for any Republican candidate in a modern-day presidential election. In a significant sign of the gradual racial reunification between the two electoral parties, the more diverse the sensitive states, the further back Biden falls, and he is narrowly edging out only six of the highest voter turnout states.
Spencer Weisz, 53, of Pennsylvania, voted for Biden in 2020, but now supports Trump. He said, ‘The world is collapsing under Biden. I would rather see someone who I think can be a positive role model leader for the country. But I think at least about Trump that he has wisdom.’
Polls show how Biden is starting next year with a deficit in confidence and popularity. Although Trump has been indicted four times on criminal charges and is set to stand trial in 2024, if the polls are similar to the polls next November, Trump could win more than 300 Electoral College votes. It is more than 270 votes needed to rule the White House.
Another ominous sign for Democrats is that voters of all income levels felt that Biden’s policies hurt them personally, while Trump’s policies helped them. Voters gave Trump 17 advantage points for helping them and Biden 18 disadvantage points for hurting them.
Biden, the oldest president in American history, who turns 81 later this month, has become a liability for many. 62 percent of voters say Biden lacks the mental acuity to be effective. This is just the beginning of a clear list of Biden’s weaknesses in the poll results.
The result is particularly troubling for him, as voters say economic issues will determine their 2024 vote more than social issues like abortion or gun use. And 60 percent of those economic voters supported Trump. Patricia Flores, 39, of Nevada, who voted for Biden in 2020, will not support him again in 2024. He said, ‹I do not see anything that he has done for our benefit.›
