Trump supporters more enthusiastic than Biden’s: poll

Supporters of President Trump are more enthusiastic about their candidate than those who back presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to a new poll.

In The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey, 42 percent of Trump supporters polled described themselves as excited heading into the election, while 31 percent of Biden supporters said the same.

Nearly three-quarters of Biden’s supporters, 72 percent, also described themselves as anxious about the election, compared to 52 percent of Trump backers who said the same.

And 65 percent of Biden supporters surveyed said they are frustrated about the upcoming election, compared to 45 percent of Trump supporters.

Despite the enthusiasm gap favoring Trump, the poll found that just 38 percent of respondents approved of the president’s performance and 32 percent approved of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The poll also finds that respondents were more likely to describe Biden as “capable” than Trump, 56 percent to 43 percent, but that much larger majorities of Trump supporters agree with the description that their candidate “stands up for what he believes” (87 percent to 63 percent), is a “strong leader”(75 percent vs. 50 percent), and is “capable” (76 percent vs. 56 percent).

Older Biden supporters are far more likely to describe Biden in such ways than those under 45, according to the survey.

On character issues, 56 percent of respondents agreed somewhat or extremely with the statement that Biden “cares about people like you,” compared to 39 percent who said the same for Trump. The same percentage of respondents agreed somewhat or very much with the description of Biden as “honest,” while 39 percent said the same for the president.

The poll surveyed 1,057 adults, including 922 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.