Just 42 percent of Democrats in Gallup poll pleased with Biden as nominee

Less than 50 percent of Democrats in a Gallup poll released Thursday say they are happy that President Biden is their party’s presumptive presidential nominee, compared to 79 percent of Republicans polled who say the same of former President Trump.

The figures, released by Gallup as Biden and Trump meet for their first debate of 2024 on Thursday night, raises more questions about whether an enthusiasm gap could hurt Biden in the match-up with his GOP rival this fall.

The Gallup poll found that more than 50 percent of Democrats said they would prefer another candidate to be their nominee.

Biden also lags behind Trump in overall favorability. Biden’s favorability rating as of June hovers around 37 percent, while Trump sits at 46 percent. Biden’s June approval rating is the lowest reported by Gallup since the president took office.

The poll was taken June 3-23, beginning a few days after the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts in his hush money trial.

Trump holds a 44.7 percent to 43.9 percent lead in the polling average kept by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill.

Working against Biden in the Gallup poll are perceptions of his age, with Americans far more concerned that Biden, 81, is “too old” to be president than they are of the 78-year-old Trump. 

Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported they were very concerned with Biden’s age, while just 18 percent reported the same of Trump; 41 percent reported that they were “not concerned” that Trump was too old at all, while just 14 percent shared that view of Biden.

Biden also falls behind Trump in his ability to gain approval with voters on their key issues. Thirty-seven percent of respondents agreed with Biden “on the issues that matter most” to them, and 49 percent found themselves agreeing with Trump.

Trump has also turned a page since his first presidential run on perceptions of his qualifications to be president. In October 2016, just 30 percent agreed he had the “personality and leadership qualities a president should have.” Now, the number has leaped to 46 percent, while 38 percent say Biden has the same qualities.

The Gallup poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,005 American adults. The margin of error for the total sample is 4 percentage points.