Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 868 likely voters in the U.S. from 5/26/21 - 5/27/21. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 37% Democrat, 35% Republican and 28% Independent/unaffiliated.
Below are some key findings from the poll.
President Joe Biden has been riding a sky high job approval rating as of late. His high job approval rating can be attributed to a few factors: better treatment (than Trump) by the mainstream media, passing the Recovery Act, a new presidency inside of six months in office, and he is boring!
As Biden oversees a push to vaccinate most Americans and reopen the economy, praise is being thrust upon the president from pundits to party loyalists. All in all most voters are satisfied with the job Biden is doing: a majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction (51%), while less think things are off on the wrong track (43%).
During Biden's first six months in office he has been overseeing a mediocre vaccine rollout, and he also called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Depending on who you ask, one has to wonder if Biden's taking some of the credit away from former President Trump for these particular feats. To Trump's credit he established Operation Warp Speed, passed the first stimulus bill, and was also first to publicly call for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, for which he was met with opposition from both sides of the aisle and the military establishment.
According to our poll, almost half (49%) of surveyed voters believe President Biden is taking credit for some of Trump's accomplishments, mainly, vaccine rollout/distribution and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, while 37% of voters thought Biden accomplished the vaccine rollout and withdrawal of American troops all on his own; 14% were not sure.
The sub-groups most likely to think President Biden was taking credit for Trump's accomplishments were voters living in the South (52%) and Central Great Lakes regions (53%), aged 65+ (61%), men (57%), rural voters (67%), Republicans (76%), voters whose annual household income is $150K+ (53%), consumers-weekly Walmart shoppers (54%), White voters (55%), and Baby Boomers (55%).
The sub-groups most likely to think Biden achieved these feats on his own were East and West region voters (42%), Democrats (57%), African Americans (52%), small city voters (44%), younger voters aged 18-29 (40%) and 18-24 (41%), women (41%), large city voters (46%), and urban women (50%).
At the moment, President Biden is very popular among voters, but some pundits, especially in Republican circles, are wondering if Biden is not being asked tough enough questions by the mainstream media, especially when that media fought constantly with President Trump on his policies. When the question was posed to respondents, a strong majority (62% agreed- strongly and somewhat agreed combined) of voters agreed the mainstream media was protecting Joe Biden by not asking him tough policy questions on issues, such as, the national debt and the border crisis (see below). Only 27% disagreed (strongly and somewhat disagreed combined), while 11% were not sure.
Shockingly, a majority (55% agreed/34% disagreed) of Democrats agreed the mainstream media was protecting Joe Biden. 80% of Republicans agreed/15% disagreed, while Independents were the least convinced-50% agreed/34% disagreed. A majority of almost every sub-group agreed (strongly and somewhat agreed combined) that certain media were protecting Joe Biden by not asking him tough policy questions. Some of the groups who agreed the most were: large city voters (67% agreed/27% disagreed), rural voters (69% agreed/21% disagreed), Central/Great Lakes voters (67% agreed/24% disagreed), and consumers-weekly Walmart (71% agreed/21% disagreed) and weekly Amazon shoppers (71% agreed/23% disagreed).
We also posed two other questions to voters about the mainstream media's treatment of Joe Biden and found very similar results:
Again, we posed the question of whether the mainstream media was protecting President Biden, but as a twist, invoked the issue of the "border crisis." The results were similar: 41% strongly agreed, and less than a quarter somewhat agreed that the mainstream media was not asking President Biden tough questions on important issues. In line with the issue of the national debt, 28% disagreed (strongly and somewhat disagreed combined) and 10% were not sure.
A majority of every sub-group, with exception to African Americans (50% agreed/34% disagreed), agreed (strongly and somewhat agreed combined). This also included Democrats (53% agreed/38% disagreed), Republicans (82% agreed/13% disagreed) and Independents (52% agreed/32% disagreed).
Some of the groups who agreed the most about the mainstream media protecting Joe Biden were large city voters (71% agreed/22% disagreed), rural voters (70% agreed/21% disagreed), Catholics (71% agreed/23% disagreed) and voters who earned the most-$150K+ (74% agreed/21% disagreed).
Not surprisingly, respondents felt Biden's staff was protecting him by preventing him from talking to the media more: a majority (59%) agreed, three in ten disagreed, and 11% were not sure.
While President Biden may seem to be on top of the world, and his numbers prove this, he might be suddenly in for more drama. The mainstream media is on his side, but how much longer will voters be on his side? If Biden does not deliver on infrastructure and Democrats lose their majority in the House of Representatives to Republicans, Biden's popularity could take a hit and he could come tumbling off his pedestal.
Biden also has to deal with a topsy turvy economy being rocked by price inflation. All of these things could spell doom for his presidency, but maybe Biden can make a deal with Republicans and steer the economy out of the abyss. With the loosening of corona virus restrictions now in full effect as the summer season is heats up, Americans are eager to spend money and travel. Once this rush of summer fun is over, voters might be instore for a rude awakening, as will President Biden, if he does not deliver on all his promises, which is a pretty tall order. Not only does he have to please the progressive wing of the Democratic party, but he also has to be a president for all Americans, and please them too. That is an even taller order!
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
5/26/21 - 5/27/21
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 868 likely voters in the US.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 37% Democrat, 35% Republican and 28% Independent/unaffiliated.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 868 is +/- 3.3 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.