Utah voters’ disapproval of President Joe Biden’s job performance has risen slightly, according to a new poll.
A 65% majority of registered voters in Utah said they disapprove of Biden’s job performance, while 33% said they approve and 3% said they didn’t know, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll. Biden’s disapproval among Utah voters is slightly higher than it was in December 2022 when 61% said they disapproved of the job he was doing.
Unsurprisingly, Utah conservatives are the least impressed, with just 3% of the very conservative and 12% of the somewhat conservative approving of the job Biden is doing. Among liberals, 86% of those who identify as somewhat liberal approve of Biden’s job performance compared with 76% of the very liberal. Among Utah moderates, 53% approve. Biden has the support of 88% of Democrats, 15% of Republicans and 38% self-described as “other.”
Biden’s approval is underwater among all age groups in the state, but the age group Biden enjoys the highest approval from is those ages 25 to 40, at 40%, followed by those ages 41 to 56, at 34% approval, and those ages 57 and older, at 31% approval.
Biden’s least supportive age group is the youngest: among those ages 18 to 24, only 24% approve of the job he’s doing.
The poll found 40% of female registered voters in Utah approve of Biden compared to 27% of men.
Among very active Latter-day Saints in Utah, 77% disapprove of Biden’s job performance compared with 20% who approve. Among those who are somewhat or not active Latter-day Saints, 63% disapprove and 36% approve.
Biden faces challenges in seeking a second term nationally. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week found Democrats evenly split 47%-47% over whether they want to nominate Biden again. Biden’s disapproval rating nationally is 56%, according to the poll, with 36% approval.
The poll found more U.S. adults believe Biden is honest and trustworthy than former President Donald Trump, who leads in polls for the Republican nomination, but Trump, who turns 77 next month, leads Biden when respondents were asked who has the mental sharpness and is in good enough physical health to serve effectively as president.
At 80 years old, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. When asked about his age in an interview with MSNBC — his first since announcing — Biden spoke about it as a positive. Biden said he had acquired “a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of the people.”
“I’m more experienced than anybody that’s ever run for the office and I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective,” he said.
Biden faces numerous policy challenges, including debt ceiling negotiations with House Republicans, questions about the economy and the end of Title 42 on Thursday, which is expected to be followed by an increase in asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll was conducted by Dan Jones and Associates of 800 registered voters in Utah from April 25-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.