Approval ratings for the U.S. Supreme Court remain low while President Joe Biden lags behind rival presidential candidates, according to a new poll from the Marquette Law School.
Here are some of the major findings from the polls.
Biden trails opposition
The poll, released Nov. 16, found Biden trailing the top three Republican presidential candidates: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Among unwilling and reluctant voters, more indicated that they would vote for Trump over Biden.
Haley is gaining public approval and leading Biden 55% to 45%, but many are hesitant in their support, citing a lack of knowledge about her. DeSantis also leads Biden 51% to 49%, with many perceiving the current president as too liberal and not aligning with their ideology. Trump continues to maintain support from his followers and is gaining more as support for Biden drops with a 52% to 48% lead.
Biden now yields a 40% approval and a 60% disapproval rating, according to the poll’s results, a 1% increase since September.
Biden’s numbers come as the poll found most Americans have negative perceptions of the U.S. economy.
One-third of adults surveyed viewed the economy as poor, 40% viewed it as “not so good” and 3% viewed it as excellent. Almost half said they are “just getting by” financially.
Those are less than ideal numbers for Biden, who campaigned on his “Bidenomics” economic agenda throughout much of 2023 ahead of next year’s looming presidential election.
However, Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin cautioned the poll’s results are not a guaranteed predictor of what will happen in 2024.
“We're doing a total of 14 polls between now and Election Day,” Franklin told The Daily Cardinal. “Those are each snapshots. But what happens when you put snapshots together? They become a movie and they show us how the electorate evolves and changes over these next 12 months.”
Supreme Court confidence remains low
The poll found 59% of adults disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court, up from 57% disapproval in Marquette’s September poll.
Court approval ratings have remained below 50% since March 2022, when approval was as high as 54%.
Public opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson, a June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the federal right to abortion, yielded 35% approval and 65% disapproval.
The public perception of the court’s ideological leanings has shifted as well and split along partisan lines. The current composition of the court includes six justices appointed by Republicans and three appointed by Democrats.
In 2019, 38% of those polled viewed the court as conservative while the rest viewed the court as moderate or liberal. Now, 56% viewed the court as conservative, a trend mirroring rising beliefs that justices are motivated by politics since 2019.
28% of voters said they believe the Supreme Court is “highly ethical and honest,” down from 30% in September. However, Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to find the court highly ethical and honest.
Support for Israel remains high
Since the Oct. 7 outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, protests in support of both Israel and Palestine have coincided with tensions on college campuses and within communities.
Among adults polled, 52% believed the U.S. should maintain support for Israel, 5% believed the U.S. should support Hamas and 43% did not support either.
