Trump leads Biden in CNN poll, but issues data paints even worse picture for incumbent

A recent CNN poll has shown former President Donald Trump with a substantive lead over President Joe Biden, though underlying data and subsequent questions addressing voter sentiment suggest the incumbent faces an even steeper climb to keep his job than the topline number indicates.

In a head-to-head matchup, Trump led Biden 49% to 43% in the latest CNN survey. That number widened to a 9% lead when the Green Party's Jill Stein and independents Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. entered the mix. In that scenario, Trump earned 42% support, Biden 33%, Kennedy 16%, West 4%, and Stein 3%.

Biden's approval stood at 40% while 60% disapproved of him overall, including undecideds who were asked to choose. On issues, however, support levels were more varied.

On healthcare, he enjoyed 45% approval and 54% disapproval, with 1% undecided. On student loan debt, he stood at 44% approval, 55% disapproval, and 1% undecided. 

Those were his best numbers on major issues, however, as he earned 34% overall approval on economic issues compared to a 66% disapproval rating. On inflation specifically, he earned 29% approval and 71% disapproval.

He drew worse marks for his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with 28% supporting his response and 71% disapproving of it.

Notably, public sentiment on Trump's tenure has demonstrably improved in recent years. Fifty-five percent of respondents deemed his time is office a success, while 44% said it was a failure. In January of 2021, 41% called him a success while 55% deemed him a failure and 4% had no opinion.

Biden's rating have moved in the opposite direction. in January of 2022, 41% said his tenure was a success and 57% a failure. In April 2024, however, 39% called it a success while 61% said it was a failure.

Conducted April 18-23, the survey questioned 1,212 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of +/-3.4%.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.