According to a new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports and The Heartland Institute, if the next presidential election were held today, former President Donald Trump would decisively defeat Joe Biden.
The poll, conducted January 5, surveyed 1,016 likely voters, seeking their impressions about the current and former presidents.
When asked whether they had a “very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression” of Biden, 52 percent of respondents said they had a “somewhat unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” impression of the current Oval Office occupant.
Asked the same question about Trump, however, 51 percent of respondents said they had a “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” impression of the former president.
Perhaps most significantly, it seems that voters’ remorse has become common among many of Biden’s former supporters.
When asked, “If the next U.S. presidential election were held today, and President Joe Biden were running against former President Donald Trump, who would you be most likely to vote for?” 46 percent chose Trump while 40 percent selected Biden.
This is a shocking turn of events for Biden, who entered the Oval Office with a healthy 53 percent approval rating in January 2021.
Based on his performance over the past year, however, we shouldn’t be surprised voters are souring on Biden so soon.
On several fronts, the Biden Administration has failed to deliver the promises it made on the campaign trail.
For instance, Biden repeatedly claimed he “would shut down the virus.” Yet, one year into his presidency, COVID-19 is far from “shut down.” Despite inheriting three vaccines, several treatment options, and a robust testing regimen, Biden has squandered all of this as more Americans have died from COVID-19 under his stewardship than did under Trump.
Biden also promised he would oversee a post-pandemic economic recovery that would largely benefit middle- and working-class Americans. Over the past year, however, U.S. economic growth has been stymied by supply-chain disruptions and widespread inflation.
Inflation reached a 40-year high of 7 percent in December. The supply-chain crisis is worsening every month. And the U.S. labor market is upside-down. As of this writing, there are more than 10.6 million unfilled jobs in the United States. Yet, paradoxically, in November 2021, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, and in December 2021, only 199,000 jobs were created.
Although Biden is not solely to blame for these economic problems, his administration has made it easier for Americans to remain out of work by dangling government benefits before them. His vaccine mandates, regulations on the oil and gas industry, and tax increases are also to blame for the current economic malaise.
Biden’s handling of the southern border has also caused discontent among his former supporters.
While on the campaign trail, Biden made it clear that he opposed Trump’s secure border policies. Of course, he never said he would open the southern border and welcome more than two million people to cross illegally into the United States, but that is precisely what he has done.
On Biden’s watch, illicit drugs, especially fentanyl, have poured over the open border. Human trafficking has also boomed, both to the detriment of the country.
Aside from his domestic disappointments, the Biden Administration’s foreign policy failures are also likely driving his reelection prospects down the drain. From the debacle in Afghanistan to the crises brewing in Ukraine and Taiwan, Americans are well aware that Biden’s foreign affairs agenda has been a fiasco.
In less than one year, Joe Biden’s popularity and approval are plummeting. Although many in the mainstream media have downplayed Biden’s year of failures, the American people seem to be attentive to the reality on the ground.
Although the next presidential election is three years in the future—a lifetime in politics—the signs do not bode well for a Biden second term. On the flip side, a second Trump term seems more likely than ever.
The only other president to serve two nonconsecutive terms was Grover Cleveland. If the present trends persist, Donald Trump could join that very exclusive club.