A new poll suggests that Americans have little confidence in President Biden’s ability to lead on some of the most pressing issues, including the economy, immigration, and foreign policy. The poll also discloses major weaknesses that the president has in a rematch with the former president. 

In a matchup with President Trump next year, President Biden would lose the national popular vote by ten points, 52–42, the new survey from the Washington Post and ABC News suggests. The Washington Post, in its analysis of the polling, called the wide margin an “outlier,” because most recent national polls have shown Messrs. Biden and Trump in a virtual tie. 

The director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Larry Sabato, called the poll’s results “laughable.” “It’s a ridiculous outlier,” he said on X. “My question: How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face? Will be a lingering embarrassment for you.”

Mr. Biden’s approval rating has continued to sag, according to the survey. Just 37 percent of Americans say they either strongly or somewhat approve of Mr. Biden’s job performance, compared to 56 percent who disapprove. Americans’ estimation of Mr. Trump is much more favorable, with the poll showing 48 percent of voters approving of his job performance compared to 49 who disapprove. 

When broken down issue-by-issue, the poll shows Americans’ have little confidence in the incumbent president to handle some of the country’s most pressing challenges. Only 30 percent of survey respondents approve of Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy — an all-time low for the forty-sixth president. On border security — a critical issue at the moment as thousands of migrants are crossing the border by the day — Mr. Biden is trusted even less. Just 23 percent say the president is handling the crisis well. 

Across the board on economic indicators, Americans are exhibiting a shocking level of pessimism. When asked by the Post and ABC about how they feel about the state of certain economic indicators, 74 percent that the economy was doing poorly overall, 87 percent said energy prices were too high, 91 percent said the cost of food was harmful, and 75 percent had a negative view of the income of average Americans. Just 15 percent of respondents said they are better off now than they were when Mr. Biden took office. 

Mr. Biden’s age is also a concern for voters, according to the poll, which tracks with nearly every survey taken since Mr. Biden entered the Oval Office in 2021. Some 26 percent of respondents say “only” Mr. Biden is too old to be president, compared to just one percent who say Mr. Trump is too old. The two men — who would both be in their 80s if they complete a second term — are both seen as too elderly together, however, with 48 percent saying both presidents are too old to do the job. 

A new NBC poll confirms these concerns about the president’s age. The NBC survey, released on Sunday, shows that 74 percent of Americans either have major or moderate concerns that Mr. Biden does not possess “the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term.”

Concerning his son Hunter and his foreign business dealings, 60 percent of Americans have concerns that the president was involved in some way. Unlike the Post–ABC poll that shows Mr. Trump up ten points over the president, the NBC shows that only Governor Haley beats Mr. Biden in a hypothetical general election, 46–41, matchup.  

Mr. Biden’s strength in the Democratic party is also not assured, with 62 percent saying they want someone other than him to be nominated next year, though when asked by pollsters who that person should be, no hypothetical candidate garners double-digit support, according to the Post–ABC poll. 

Mr. Trump’s quest to be nominated by the GOP seems all but assured if the poll is to be believed. A majority of Republican primary voters support renominating the former president, compared to just 15 percent who favor Governor DeSantis nationally. No other GOP presidential candidate garnered double-digit support in the poll.