President Biden’s announcement he would seek re-election to the nation’s highest office comes just as polling shows voters wish both leading candidates would sit out 2024 altogether.
According to an NBC News survey of 1,000 adults conducted just days before Biden’s unsurprising second term bid began in earnest, “70% of all Americans — including 51% of Democrats — believe he should not run for a second term.”
Biden, 80, is the oldest person to ever run for president or seek re-election to that office. His predecessor and presumptive Republican counterpart, 76-year-old former President Donald Trump, would himself clinch that title were he running against any other candidate.
The president’s advanced age, those surveyed told NBC News, is among the chief reasons they do not want him to run for a second four-year term, with more than half of respondents labeling Biden’s eight lived decades a “major” concern when considering their 2024 pick for the presidency.
This may sound like good news for Trump’s third bid at the White House, but the 45th president isn’t doing much better than the 46th when voters are asked about him returning to power after four years as a Florida-based private citizen. Both the NBC News survey and an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist national poll released Tuesday show most voters would prefer Trump mind his many businesses.
“Many Americans are not embracing embattled former President Donald Trump’s second bid for the White House. Nearly two in three Americans, including more than one in four Republicans, do not want Trump to be president, again,” pollsters wrote along with their survey of nearly 1,300 adults.
About 64% of those asked said they do not want Trump to run again, with 58% telling pollsters the former president should drop out of the race entirely due to ongoing legal entanglements in New York, Georgia and Washington D.C.
While most Democrats and Independents — 87% and 58% respectively — think the 34 felony charges leveled against Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should end his run, 77% of Republicans think he should run regardless of those allegations.
A CBS News/YouGov poll of over 2,000 adults also released Tuesday and conducted ahead of Biden’s campaign launch showed most Democratic-leaning voters were feeling “acceptance” when considering a second Biden term.
When asked “how would you feel about Joe Biden running for re-election,” 54% of respondents told pollsters they were “accepting” of the idea while a further 27% said the idea made them “nervous.”
“Disappointed,” “bored,” and “angry” scored 21%, 14%, and 7% respectively.