Donald Trump tops poll, voters ‘regret’ supporting Joe Biden

Donald Trump has overtaken President Biden in favourability ratings among American voters only eight months after the transfer of power – a remarkable turnaround that is attributed to crises at home and abroad.

He has a positive rating of 48 per cent compared with Biden’s 46 per cent in a new Harvard/Harris poll, a result that reflects dismay among US voters over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, surging numbers of coronavirus cases, migrants flocking to the Mexico border and deadlock in Congress, where the Democratic president’s ambitious plans are stuck in the mud.

Biden’s top team also fared badly compared with Trump’s: 55 per cent of respondents said that Mike Pence was a better vice-president than his successor, Kamala Harris, and 63 per cent believed that Mike Pompeo was a better secretary of state than Antony Blinken.
A range of other surveys show the same trends, with a poll in the bellwether state of Iowa putting Biden’s approval rating at 31 per cent, down from 43 per cent in June.
“The mounting issues on all fronts have led to the surprise conclusion that Trump is now seen as being as good a president as Biden, suggesting the honeymoon is being replaced with buyer’s remorse,” Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard/Harris survey, said. “People see Pence as a better VP by ten points and overwhelmingly see Pompeo as far better than Blinken, who has been out front on Afghanistan.”