Reuters/Ipsos Issues Survey May 2024

Washington, DC, May 25, 2024 – The latest survey from Reuters/Ipsos finds President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in a statistical tie among registered voters if the election were held today. A majority of Americans express concern that extremists will commit acts of violence after the election if they are unhappy with the outcome – including a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents. A majority of Americans and registered voters say they are confident that the outcome of the election will be accurate and legitimate, but less than half of Republicans agree. The survey also examined perceptions of the pro-Palestinian protests happening on college campuses and approval of Biden’s handling of both the war in Gaza and the protests, and which candidate and political party perform better on key issues.  

Detailed Findings:

If the election were held today, 40% of registered voters say they would vote for Donald Trump and 40% say they would vote for Joe Biden. When asked the ballot including independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the results are similar: among registers voters Biden receives 38% of the vote share, Trump receives 38% of the vote share, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receives 13% of the vote share.  

Most Americans think the economy (64%), immigration (65%), the cost of living (77%), national politics (70%), and foreign policy (55%) are off on the wrong track. When asked about which candidate would have a better plan, approach, or policy to some of the key issues facing the country, 37% say Biden has a better approach to abortion compared to 27% who say the same about Trump, 41% say Trump performs better on the economy compared to 29% who say the same about Biden, 31% say Trump has a better approach to Israel compared to 23% who say Biden does, and Americans are split on which candidate has a better approach to Ukraine (Biden and Trump – 30% each) and political extremism and threats to democracy (Trump-32%, Biden-31%).

Sixty-two percent of Americans say they are confident the results of the election will be accurate and legitimate. Republicans are least likely to say they are confident (47%). Democrats (87%) and independents (60%) are more likely to say they are confident. Sixty-eight percent of Americans say they are concerned that extremists will commit acts of violence after the election if they are unhappy with the election outcome, including 83% of Democrats, 65% of Republicans, and 69% of independents.

When it comes to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, only 32% of Americans approve of Biden’s response. Republicans are least likely to approve (22%), followed by independents (31%) and Democrats (50%). A similar proportion approve of Biden’s response to the pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities and cities over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza (31% of Americans, 15% of Republicans, 30% of independents, and 51% of Democrats). Just twenty-two percent of Americans say they support the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities, 52% do not support the protests, and 24% don’t know.

To see the full list of questions and responses, please download the topline below. 

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted May 7-14, 2024 on behalf of Reuters using the KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a representative sample of 3,934 U.S. residents, age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.12 for all adults. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in English. The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2023 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2023 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson 
Senior Vice President, U.S. 
Public Affairs 
[email protected]

Annaleise Azevedo Lohr 
Director, U.S. 
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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