Former President Donald Trump holds a slight edge on President Joe Biden in favorability among U.S. adults, according to a new Gallup poll.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has a 42% favorable rating, Gallup found. That's slightly lower than his 45% favorability in October 2020 just before a presidential election.
Biden is viewed favorably by 41% of U.S. adults, eight percentage points below his 49% rating in October 2020, Gallup found. Biden's favorability is down nearly 18 points from his high of 59% in January 2021.
Since he won the presidency, Biden's favorable rating has fallen among nearly all major subgroups of society, Gallup found. The decline, though, has been pronounced among young adults and people of color.
Biden is viewed most favorably by older adults (47%) and least favorably by those aged 18 to 34 (30%). His favorability among people of color is down 16 points to 48% compared to October 2020.
Since 2020, Biden has lost more support from Democrats (down 13 points to 82%) than among independents (down nine points to 38%).
Trump has gained enough among people of color to nearly offset his nine-point decline in favorability among white adults.
Trump has the better image among men, young adults, white adults, non-college graduates, and Republicans. Biden is seen better by women, older Americans, people of color, college graduates, and Democrats.
Middle-aged adults and independents currently have similar views of Biden and Trump.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is viewed favorably by half or more adults, including across many subgroups.
Among Republicans, Trump is viewed best (at 79% favorable, 19% unfavorable), followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (63%, 24%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (44%, 24%).
DeSantis and Haley are viewed favorably by about a third, the poll found. Haley's unfavorable rating, though, is 34% compared to DeSantis' 52%
Also, a larger proportion of Americans have no opinion of Haley (34%) than of DeSantis (16%) in a poll conducted before Haley's town hall in New Hampshire, where she failed to mention slavery as a cause of the U.S. Civil War.
Haley the next day said the Civil War "of course" was "about slavery," and insisted her comments the previous night came after a question by one of the "Democrat plants."
The latest Gallup poll was conducted Dec. 1-20 among 1,013 U.S. adults, who may or may not plan to vote in November's election.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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