A recent CNN poll found that most Americans, and even some Democratic voters, are pessimistic about the prospect of President Joe Biden serving a second term.
Sixty-six percent of Americans polled told CNN that Biden winning in 2024 would be a "setback" or "disaster" for the country. Among white Democrats who don’t have a college degree, historically an important part of the Democratic coalition, one in six said they "definitely" would not support the president’s reelection bid. As of now, only 60 percent of Democrats and left-leaning independents have indicated that they will support Biden in a primary.
Biden’s two biggest primary challengers are Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson. The former has claimed that vaccines cause autism and the latter says she practices "spiritual psychotherapy."
Polling in May has been broadly negative for the president. A Fox poll conducted last weekend found that Americans are more likely to blame Biden if the United States defaulted on its debt than congressional Republicans. Observers pointed out that this was a reversal of fortunes compared to former president Barack Obama, who faced a similar debt crisis while in office and held a polling advantage over Republicans.
As of Friday, 41.8 percent of Americans approve of President Biden, with 54.2 disapproving according to an aggregation of polling data compiled by FiveThirtyEight. Biden’s approval rating has not exceeded 44 percent since August 2021.
Biden’s poor polling appears to be reflected in his presidential prospects. Most polls conducted this month show the president losing the popular vote to Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.).