President Donald Trump is tied with former President Joe Biden in positive public perception but trails former President Barack Obama, according to a national poll released two days before the midterm elections. AtlasIntel's November 1 survey found that 40 percent of Americans have a positive image of Trump and Biden, compared with 54 percent for Obama. However, Trump's negative rating is higher than either predecessor's, at 58 percent compared with Biden's 54 percent and Obama's 44 percent.
The findings provide a snapshot of Americans' views as voting concludes on November 3 in elections that will decide control of Congress for the last two years of Trump's second term. They measure current perceptions of the three men, rather than comparing their approval ratings at corresponding points in their presidencies. Subtracting negative from positive responses gives Trump a net rating of minus 18 percentage points, Biden minus 14 and Obama plus 10.
The survey interviewed 3,566 U.S. adults between October 28 and November 1 using AtlasIntel's Random Digital Recruitment method. The poll's reported margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. The distinction between positive and net ratings matters.
Two politicians can attract the same proportion of positive responses while differing in how many people view them negatively or answer "don't know." These figures also should not be read as a hypothetical election result. Respondents were assessing their impressions of individual politicians. Former first lady Michelle Obama received a 52 percent positive rating and a 44 percent negative rating in the AtlasIntel survey, putting her positive score 12 percentage points ahead of Trump's.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg—all Democrats—each scored 47 percent, seven points above Trump. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis matched Trump's 40 percent positive rating. Republican Vice President JD Vance and Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris each received 38 percent, followed by Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at 36 percent and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom at 33 percent.
Small differences between politicians warrant caution: a numerical lead in a poll does not automatically establish a statistically meaningful difference. Recognition, "don't know" responses and the wording of a question can also affect comparisons. A CNN survey conducted earlier this year by SSRS also found Obama substantially more popular than either of his successors.
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