February 6, 2023
The public continues to be largely opposed to President Biden seeking reelection, including most Democrats. Few adults have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to handle various aspects of his job, including managing government spending, accomplishing policy goals, or working effectively with either Congressional Republicans or Democrats.
In January 2022, 48% of Democrats wanted the president to run for a second term, and in October, 52% of them said Biden should run for reelection. But in the latest poll, support for his reelection among Democrats dropped to 37%.
Overall, just one in five adults want to see him run for president in 2024, a slight decrease from the AP-NORC surveys in October and January 2022. Younger adults are less likely than older ones to favor Biden seeking a second term.
About half of adults have hardly any confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Republicans in Congress or effectively manage government spending. About 40% say the same regarding his ability to reduce the amount of corruption in Washington, accomplish major policy goals, and effectively manage the White House, the military, or a crisis. The public has slightly more confidence in his ability to work with Democrats in Congress.
Most Democrats have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Democrats in Congress but are less confident when it comes to working with Republicans, managing government spending, or accomplishing major policy goals. And while most Republicans have at least some confidence that Biden is able to work with Democrats, the vast majority have hardly any in his ability to manage government, accomplish major policy goals, or work with Republicans.
Most Democrats have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to work with Democrats in Congress but are less confident when it comes to working with Republicans, managing government spending, or accomplishing major policy goals. And while most Republicans have at least some confidence that Biden is able to work with Democrats, the vast majority have hardly any in his ability to manage government, accomplish major policy goals, or work with Republicans.
Twenty-five percent of the public feel the country is headed in the right direction and 73% feel it is going in the wrong direction. Overall, 41% approve of the president’s job performance and 57% disapprove. These numbers are similar to those seen in the AP-NORC survey from December 2022.
The public also continues to be largely negative regarding Biden’s handling of major issues, with fewer than half approving of his handling of most major issues. About half of the public approve of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has been viewed favorably by most adults since May 2022. Few Republicans approve of his handling of any issue.
The nationwide poll was conducted January 26-30, 2023 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,068 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.2 percentage points
Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (February 2023). “Most people think Biden should not run for reelection in 2024” apnorc.org/most-people-think-biden-should-not-run-for-reelection-in-2024.
