Biden disapproval rating hits highest mark of presidency: poll

(The Hill) – President Biden’s disapproval rating hit the highest mark of his presidency in a new poll that also showed support by essential voting blocs is slipping.

Biden’s disapproval rating ticked up to 56 percent, with 41 percent saying they approve. The survey also shows support for Biden slipping with voters aged 18-24, who reported a 46 percent approval rating; Latinos, who reported 43 percent; and independents — who will be key to deciding the general election — at 36 percent.

The NBC News poll released Sunday continues the trend of showing an overwhelming majority of voters expressing concern about Biden as well as his likely 2024 general election opponent, former President Trump. 

But Trump’s lead in the GOP primary has also surged ahead of a crowded field of opponents; he is leading by 43 points despite a myriad of legal troubles in the form of four state and federal criminal indictments. 

Trump was the first choice among national Republican primary voters at 59 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clocked in at only 16 percent, according to the poll. It also showed Republicans increasingly believing that Trump should remain the Republican Party’s leader at 58 percent, an increase from 49 percent in June.

Trump has been indicted four times this year, including three times since June in cases involving the potential mishandling of classified documents and interference in the 2020 election results on the federal level and in the state of Georgia.

Voters continue to see the 80-year-old Biden’s age as an issue, with 74 percent of voters saying they have major or moderate concerns that he doesn’t have the mental and physical capacity to be president, while 44 percent said the same of 77-year-old Trump. 

Still, 1 in 5 voters who expressed concerns about Biden’s age said they would still vote for him over Trump. A hypothetical 2024 match-up in the poll shows Trump and Biden in a dead heat at 46 percent among registered voters. Biden held a 4 percent lead over Trump in the same poll in June.

The NBC News poll was conducted Sept. 15-19 and surveyed 1,000 registered voters with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.