Voters trust former President Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden on the economy, immigration, national security, foreign affairs and crime.
Biden, however, is more trusted on health care, climate change, education and abortion.
Those findings come from The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights.
The poll of 2,605 voters includes 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats, and 496 true Independents, and is among the most comprehensive in the country.
On the economy/jobs, a majority of voters say Trump would do a better job than Biden, 54% to 37%. Voters also say Trump would outperform Biden, 53% to 36%, on immigration; 51% to 39% on national security; 50% to 38% on crime/violence; and 48% to 41% on foreign affairs.
Voters think Biden is better than Trump on education, 45% to 42; health care, 46% to 42%; abortion, 46% to 38%; race relations, 46% to 38%; and climate change, 48% to 36%.
Notably, the issues Trump performs better on are also the issues most important to American voters according to the same polling, with the possible exception of abortion. During last week’s elections, Ohio voters easily passed an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, and Kentucky voters re-elected Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the largely red state in part because of his support for abortion rights.
According to a question asked of all likely voters regardless of political affiliation, inflation and price increases are their top concern, with 48% naming it as one of the top three issues facing the country. Illegal immigration came in second with 33% of those surveyed saying the same. Crime and violence came in third with 28% naming it as one of their top three issues.
“Trump, at the moment, seems to have a stronger portfolio of issue positions than Biden,” David Byler, chief of research at Noble Predictive Insights, told The Center Square. “On the issues people care about the most – such as the economy and immigration – Trump wins more often than Biden.”
The economy and jobs followed crime and violence with 24% of respondents naming them as a top issue, followed by climate change at 22% and the national debt and government spending at 21%. Only 19% chose health care access as a top issue, and 19% also chose abortion.
“Abortion is a good issue for Democrats, and it’s obviously helped them in elections since the overturning of Roe [v. Wade],” Byler said. “But I’m not sure exactly how abortion plays out with Trump on the ticket. Trump has oscillated between hard right and somewhat less conservative stances on abortion – and in a general election, he might be able to stake out a more popular position than the average Republican would.”
Trump, who continues to dominate his opponents in the GOP primary field, notably criticized Republican rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing into law a state ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, calling it a “terrible mistake.”
Overall, though, likely voters slightly prefer Biden to Trump, according to the poll. The poll also asked voters about a hypothetical general election faceoff with Biden. In that faceoff, voters sided with Biden over Trump, 48% to 44%.
DeSantis and former Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley did better in hypothetical one-on-one matchups with Biden. DeSantis bested Biden with 47% support compared to Biden’s 44%, and Haley beats Biden with 44% compared to Biden’s 41%.
