Corrupt and lacking the mental soundness to serve effectively as president.
That’s what voters think of the two candidates who currently look most likely to be their 2024 presidential choices.
A majority of 61% say Joe Biden doesn’t have the mental soundness needed for the job he holds.
That sentiment has risen steadily over the last three years. It’s up 5 points since last year, up 13 points compared to 2021, and up 16 points since 2020.
The latest Fox News national survey also finds that while 46% think Donald Trump has the cognitive capability necessary to be president, over half, 52%, do not.
While more voters see Biden lacking mental sharpness, fewer believe he is dishonest.
When asked if the word "corrupt" describes each candidate, 56% say it applies to Trump compared to 48% for Biden.
The share believing Biden is corrupt is up 7 points since the week before the 2020 election (41%), while Trump’s number has held steady (56%).
One in ten Democrats (11%) say Biden is corrupt and one quarter feel he lacks mental fitness (26%).
Among Republicans, one in five believe Trump is corrupt (20%) and one in seven that he isn’t cognitively up to being president (15%).
NYT COLUMNIST SUGGESTS BIDEN'S ‘DECLINE’ NAD POSSIBILITY OF ‘HEALTH CRISIS’ RISK TRUMP WIN IN 2024
The poll, released Thursday, shows close races in seven potential 2024 head-to-head matchups. Each is well within the error margin and no candidate receives 50% support.
Republicans have the edge over Biden in four of the hypothetical races (Trump and Nikki Haley are ahead by 2 points, while Vivek Ramaswamy and Mike Pence are up by 1). Biden comes out on top in three (by 3 points over Ron DeSantis, and by 1 over Tim Scott and Chris Christie).
While the differences between the candidates are insignificant, they tell us it would be tight if the election were today (it isn’t).
In the Biden-Trump matchup, support for Biden is down among several key constituencies compared to fall 2020, including suburban women (down 12 points), women (-11), Black voters (-10), voters under age 45 (-7), and Hispanic voters (-5).
That support moved to Trump’s column. Compared to late October 2020, his standing has improved among suburban women (up 13 points), women (+10), and Blacks (+7), Hispanics (+7), and those under age 45 (+6).
Independents prefer Trump over Biden by 10 points. In late October 2020, they favored Biden by 20 points.
Still, voters are more than twice as likely to expect Trump’s legal issues will hurt (44%) rather than help (20%) him in the general election. One third think they won’t matter (34%).
Views are more mixed among Republicans, with 34% saying the legal issues could help Trump, 27% saying hurt, and 36% no difference. Half of independents (49%) think Trump’s legal difficulties will hurt, while 10% think they will help.
Poll-pourri
Voters narrowly say they would dread a Biden-Trump rematch (50%) rather than look forward to it (47%). But if it were a race between any two other candidates, the portion looking forward to it jumps 16 points to 63%, while the share dreading it drops 20 points to 30%.
Republicans (60%) would look forward to a 2020 rematch, while Democrats (60%) and independents (61%) would dread it.
If the race were between two new candidates, majorities of all three groups would be pleased.
CLICK HERE FOR TOPLINE AND CROSSTABS.
Conducted September 9-12, 2023, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,012 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all registered voters.
Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
