Last week, NBC News reported that after months of feeling frustrated by the polls, Joe Biden is now expressing confidence that he’ll beat Donald Trump.
“The turnabout in Biden’s mood has been propelled in part by recent polling that shows him gaining ground against former President Donald Trump, these people said,” NBC News reported.
“He just thinks he’s going to win,” a person familiar with Biden’s private comments told the outlet.
But, Biden’s confidence is likely to return to frustration. A new poll from CNN is an absolute bloodbath for Biden.
According to a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS, despite his legal troubles, Donald Trump still leads nationally over Biden 49-43 in a two-way race, and 42-33 when third party candidates are included.
Ouch.
🚨 CNN POLL:
— President Trump leads Biden 49% to 43% in a two-way race.
— President Trump leads Biden 42% to 33% including third party candidates.
— 55% say the Trump presidency was a success. 39% say the Biden presidency is a success. pic.twitter.com/0Xn0j7oVia
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 28, 2024
CNN reports that “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% 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%, not significantly different from January’s 45%.
Looking back, 55% of all Americans now say they see Trump’s presidency as a success, while 44% 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% considered his time as president a failure.
Assessing Biden’s time in office so far, 61% say his presidency thus far has been a failure, while 39% say it’s been a success. That’s narrowly worse than the 57% who called the first year of his administration a failure in January 2022, with 41% calling it a success.
At the moment, Republicans appear to be more unified in their assessment of Trump’s presidency, compared to Democrats’ assessment of Biden’s tenure. The poll found that 92% of Republicans perceive Trump’s time in office as a success, while only 73% of Democrats consider Biden’s presidency successful thus far. Independents are also divided, with 51% acknowledging Trump’s presidency as successful, with only 37% saying the same about Biden’s.
Related:LOL! CNN Is Too Afraid to Update Its Election Projection Map
Naturally, the economy is a key driving factor. Only 34% approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, and only 29% feel the same about his handling of inflation. Worse yet for Biden, more voters rate the economy as being extremely important to their vote for president than in recent elections. “In the new poll, 65% of registered voters call the economy extremely important to their vote for president, compared with 40% who felt that way in early 2020 and 46% who said the same at roughly this point in 2016,” explains CNN. “Those voters who say the economy is deeply important break heavily for Trump in a matchup against Biden, 62% to 30%.”
Despite Biden’s efforts to talk up the economy, an overwhelming majority of Americans, 70%, perceive the current economy as poor.