Biden falls behind Trump in poll that criticizes his handling of the Gaza war

Miami, USA, Nov 19 (EFE).- US President Joe Biden is two percentage points behind former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in a poll released Sunday by NBC, which highlights a great discomfort among voters for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Biden, who is up for re-election in 2024, received 44% compared to 46% for Trump, who has a massive lead in Republican primary polls despite facing four criminal cases and one civil case.

Last September, the two were tied at 46% in the same poll, and in June, Biden was slightly ahead of Trump by four points, 49% to 45%.

Still, the difference in today’s poll in a hypothetical Biden-Trump presidential matchup is within the margin of error and election day is still more than 11 months away.

However, Biden’s approval rating hit the lowest level of his presidency (40%) as strong majorities of all voters disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and specifically the Israel-Hamas war, according to the poll.

Among Democratic respondents, a majority say Israel went too far in its military action in Gaza, and among voters ages 18-34, 70% disapprove of Biden’s handling of that conflict.

By party, only a slight majority of Democratic voters (51%) say they approve of Biden’s handling of the war, while majorities of independents (59%) and Republicans (69%) say they disapprove.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, one of the polls’ directors, said he could not think of another time when a foreign policy issue where there were no US troops on the ground changed the US political scene.

Biden’s disapproval rating is also the highest it has been since he took office in January 2021, at 57 percent.

The poll, also conducted by Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, was conducted Nov. 10-14 among 1,000 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. EFE

ims/ics