Biden’s combative State of the Union speech falls flat in polls

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President Biden’s forceful State of the Union address did little to boost his sagging poll numbers, according to a Yahoo News/YouGov survey conducted in the days following his big speech.

The poll released late Tuesday showed no improvement in the public perceptions of Mr. Biden or his standing against the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.

Weeks before the State of the Union, Mr. Trump had 45% of the vote and Mr. Biden had 44%, a statistical tie, according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll from January.

In the days following the State of the Union, Yahoo News/YouGov surveyed 1,482 adults and found little change in those standings. Mr. Trump still had the lead with 46% of the vote and Mr. Biden remained unchanged at 44%.

Before the speech, 40% of Americans approved of the job Mr. Biden was doing as president, while 56% disapproved. After the speech, his approval rating was 39% and 55% of voters disapproved.

Just 29% of those polled said Mr. Biden, 81, is fit to serve another term, the same number as January. Most Americans (51%) said in January that Mr. Biden’s “big problem” is his age, which affects “his fitness for the presidency.” That also remains unchanged since January.

The poll found that 62% of Democrats say Mr. Biden is fit to serve another term as president, compared to 64% in January, and 61% say Mr. Biden’s age is “at least a small problem” affecting his fitness, also unchanged since January.

Mr. Biden’s State of the Union does not appear to be the reset his campaign had hoped it would be. Asked whether the speech made Mr. Biden appear more fit to be president, 35% said less fit, while 32% said more fit and 28% said the State of the Union did not change their opinion of Mr. Biden’s fitness.

Just 17% of Americans who watched the State of the Union said Mr. Biden seemed “not as old” as they expected, while 51% said he seemed “about the same” as they expected and 24% said he seemed “older” than they expected.