Trump supporters are a lot more enthusiastic than Biden backers, poll shows

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Despite some heavy criticism over how his administration has handled the novel coronavirus pandemic, polls continue to deliver good news for President Trump.

A new survey from The Washington Post and ABC News shows Trump is neck-and-neck with former Vice President Joe Biden, the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, months ahead of November's general election. Back in February, before the pandemic enveloped the United States emotionally and physically, Biden was leading in the same poll by seven percentage points. That lead has dwindled to two and, when considering the margin of error, places the two candidates in an effective tie.

Trump outpaces Biden among registered voters when it boils down to whom voters trust more to handle the coronavirus outbreak, although, similar to Biden's overall lead, the difference is statistically insignificant. Where they do separate from one another is on their prospective management of health care and the economy. Biden gets better marks in the former category, while Trump has a healthy lead in the latter.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Another possible area of worry for Biden is the apparent lack of enthusiasm among his supporters. Only 24 percent of his supporters say they are "very enthusiastic" about backing him.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted over the phone between March 22-25, surveying 1,003 adults and 845 registered voters. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points. Read more at The Washington Post.

Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.