New data suggests Americans increasingly believe that former President Donald Trump outperformed expectations during his time in office and that President Joe Biden is failing to live up to their expectations. Of particular concern for Biden is the high number of Democrats expressing disappointment in his government. With early polling suggesting that Biden is either running behind — or at best neck-and-neck — with Trump, a collapse in Democrat enthusiasm could be disastrous for his re-election chances.
The NBC News survey, conducted at the end of January, found that 40 percent of respondents believe former President Trump outperformed their expectations. In 2018, those who said he was exceeding their expectations sat at 29 percent. Meanwhile, just 29 percent currently say he did worse they expected while in office.
For Biden, the survey numbers are dire. Only 14 percent of respondents say he’s exceeding their expectations. Meanwhile, 42 percent say Biden has done worse than they expected. Within the Democrat Party, nearly 20 percent of respondents say Biden is underperforming and 52 percent say he’s done about as well as expected. Just 30 percent said he’s overperformed.
Even worse for Biden is his numbers among Independent voters. Just 6 percent say Bdien has governed better than they expected, with 52 percent saying he’s government has done worse. For former President Donald Trump, the Independent numbers are much better with 38 percent saying his time in office went better than expected. Just 18 percent said Trump performed worse than they thought he would.
