President-elect Donald Trump’s favorability rating jumped six points and hit a post-election high, while outgoing President Biden’s figures sank to a four-year low, according to a new poll.
Trump, 78, notched a 54% approval rating, one of his all-time highest, compared to about 46% who disapprove of him, an Emerson College poll found. Biden, 82, scored a 36% approval to 52% disapprove rating, the lowest Emerson has recorded in four years.
His pre-election approval rating clocked in at 48% and in at least one earlier Harvard/CAPS Harris poll this month had hit 54%. The incoming president is also viewed more positively by men (61%) compared to women (48%).
The 45th president never cracked 50% approval during his first administration — nor in his post-presidency before his Nov. 5 blowout electoral win against Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Gallup.
“Trump’s favorability varies significantly by gender, race, and age,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, explained.
“Trump’s strongest age cohort is among voters 40-59, with 60% viewing him favorably, compared to 48% among those over 70. Notably, his favorability has risen among younger voters, with 55% of those under 30 expressing a favorable opinion.”
Some 59% of white voters see him favorably, while 53% of Hispanic and 28% of black voters say the same.
The findings for Trump also mark a stark reversal from four years ago, when a litany of surveys pegged him at record lows in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
When asked about their reaction to the 2024 election outcome, 46% of voters were surprised, compared to 54% who were not.
“There is a sharp difference in reaction to the election results based on who voters supported: 67% of Harris voters were surprised by the results, while 71% of Trump voters were not surprised by his victory,” Kimball explained.
There has been somewhat sparse polling of Trump’s favorabilities ratings in the wake of the Nov. 5 election. Another poll from the Economist/YouGov gauged it at 50% favorable to 49% unfavorable.
Overall, Trump is averaging 45.5% favorable to 51.4% unfavorable, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling, all of which, except Emerson and the Economist, were taken prior to the election.
Meanwhile, Biden’s job favorability rating sits at 40% favorable to 55% unfavorable, per RCP.
Trump has also clinched high marks from voters over his handling of the transition, with 59% approving to 41% disapproving, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.
The Emerson College poll also surveyed a hypothetical 2028 field.
For Republicans, Vice President-elect JD Vance was the top dog with 30%, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (5%), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (3%) as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nikki Haley tied (2%).
Roughly 23% wanted Trump to run again, prompting the poll to mark them as undecided because that’s unconstitutional.
On the Democratic side, Harris, 60, topped the field with 37%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (7%) and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (4%) — with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tied at just 3%.
The Emerson College poll was taken from Nov. 20-22 and sampled 1,000 voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
