BOSTON — A new Emerson College poll finds President Biden trailing former President Donald Trump, 43% to 47%, with 9% undecided.
President Biden’s approval rating is 41%, with 51% disapproving of the job he’s doing in the Oval Office.
The poll, which was conducted from Dec. 4 – 6 and sampled 1,000 U.S. voters, found that support for Biden has been decreasing amongst younger voters. This is particularly bad for Biden, who relied on young voters to win the 2020 election.
Young voters disagree with Biden’s handling of the situation in Israel and displace economic anxiety onto their perception of the president.
Biden’s approval rating for voters aged 18 – 24 is 35%, but increases to the overall average of 41% among voters who 25 – 29 years old.
“An area of concern for Biden with young voters is their perception of his handling of the situation in Israel: voters under 25 are most likely to rate Biden’s handling of the situation in Israel as ‘poor’ at 44%, and are least likely to rate his handling as excellent/good at 24%,” said Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling. “This compares to 34% of those 25-29 who rate his handling as excellent or good, 35% of voters in their 30s, 31% of voters in their 40s, 36% of voters in their 50s, 39% of voters in their 60s, and 38% of voters 70 and over.”
According to the poll, higher levels of economic anxiety amongst voters 30 and under is also steering support away from Biden.
Overall, voters said the economy was the most important issue the U.S. is facing at 38%, ‘threats to democracy’ was 15%, immigration 11%, healthcare 9%, crime 7%, housing affordability 6%, and education 5%.
Among voters under 30, 44% said the economy was the most important issue the country is facing, with healthcare 14%, education 10%, crime 8%, and housing affordability 8%.
Concern for the economy is higher among voters under 30: 44% find the economy to be the most important issue facing the United States, followed by healthcare (14%), education (10%), crime (8%), and housing affordability (8%).
In addition, about 76% of voters under the age of 30 believe their parents’ generation had better economic opportunities than their generation has today (24% disagreed).
This sentiment decreases with age: 71% of voters in their 30s believe their parents’ generation had better economic opportunities, compared to 70% of voters in their 40s, 62% of those in their 50s, 58% of those in their 60s, and 50% of those over the age of 70.
“The financial concerns and emotional strain among younger voters regarding the cost of living are influencing their perception of President Biden’s leadership. Some are losing confidence, not necessarily shifting to Trump, but exploring third-party options,” Kimball said.
Support for Trump in the primary among young Republicans is higher than average.
Support for Biden in the 2024 presidential primary is also lower for younger voters.
Overall, Biden leads in the primary with 63%, 5% support Marianne Williamson, and 2% support Dean Phillips.
But for Democrats under the age of 30, support for Biden is lower than average at 56%, with 12% supporting Marianne Williamson, and 5% supporting Dean Phillips. Twenty-eight percent are undecided.
Conversely, support for Trump in the primary among Republican voters under the age of 30 is higher than the national average. Overall, Donald Trump leads in the primary with 64%, followed by Nikki Haley at 14%, Ron DeSantis at 7%, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie with 4% respectively.
But for Republicans under 30, Trump’s support is 9 percentage points higher at73%, with 6% supporting Ramaswamy, 5% supporting DeSantis, and 3% supporting Haley and Christie respectively.
“As younger Democrats distance themselves from Biden, Trump’s formidable backing within the Republican primary is strongest among younger voters,” Kimball said. “This presents a potential quandary for Biden, who secured a nearly 2-to-1 victory among young voters in the 2020 election.”
The full results of the poll can be seen here.
