President Joe Biden: 64% Democratic voters want a new president in 2024

According to a New York Times/Siena College poll, voters have soured on Biden's leadership, citing age, inflation and economy, giving him a meagre 33% job-approval rating

By Shane Goldmacher

Published: Jul 12, 2022

For Joe Biden, bleak national outlook has pushed his job approval rating to a perilously low point Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Joe Biden is facing an alarming level of doubt from inside his own party, with 64% of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, as voters nationwide have soured on his leadership, giving him a meager 33% job-approval rating.

Widespread concerns about the economy and inflation have helped turn the national mood decidedly dark, both on Biden and the trajectory of the nation. More than three-quarters of registered voters see the United States moving in the wrong direction, a pervasive sense of pessimism that spans every corner of the country, every age range and racial group, cities, suburbs and rural areas, as well as both political parties.

Only 13% of American voters said the nation was on the right track — the lowest point in Times polling since the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

For Biden, that bleak national outlook has pushed his job approval rating to a perilously low point. Republican opposition is predictably overwhelming, but more than two-thirds of independents also now disapprove of the president’s performance, and nearly half disapprove strongly. Among fellow Democrats his approval rating stands at 70%, a relatively low figure for a president, especially heading into the 2022 midterms when Biden needs to rally Democrats to the polls to maintain control of Congress.

In a sign of deep vulnerability and of unease among what is supposed to be his political base, only 26% of Democratic voters said the party should renominate him in 2024.

Biden has said repeatedly that he intends to run for reelection in 2024. At 79, he is already the oldest president in American history, and concerns about his age ranked at the top of the list for Democratic voters who want the party to find an alternative.

The backlash against Biden and desire to move in a new direction were particularly acute among younger voters. In the survey, 94% of Democrats younger than 30 said they would prefer a different presidential nominee.

Jobs and the economy were the most important problem facing the country according to 20% of voters, with inflation and the cost of living (15%) close behind as prices are rising at the fastest rate in a generation.