Former President Donald Trump maintains a lead over President Biden following the latter's disastrous performance in last month's debate, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
According to the poll, Trump currently has a 44% approval rating, while Biden follows at 40%, and Trump leads Biden by double digits on three key issues.
About 68% of respondents told Pew Research that they are generally dissatisfied with the options available for the presidential election.
TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATING OVER 50%, LEADING BIDEN ON TOP TWO TOP VOTER ISSUES: POLL
Trump gives a speech at a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The report released Thursday is the first Pew has published since Biden's confusing and at times unintelligible performance in the first 2024 presidential debate.
According to Pew, just 24% of voters describe Biden as “mentally sharp,” a 6-point drop from January and a whopping 22% decline from October 2020. About 58% of respondents described Trump as such.
Trump's advantage over Biden stems from his dominant position on three issues important to voters: immigration, the economy and foreign policy.
POLL COMPARES WHETHER TRUMP AND HUNTER BIDEN SHOULD BE SENTENCED TO PRISON, ACCORDING TO AMERICAN ADULTS
Trump and Biden take part in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election at CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trump has a 17-point lead over Biden on immigration policy (52-35%), a 14-point lead over Biden on economic policy (54-40%) and a 10-point lead on foreign policy (49-39).
Biden held an 8-point lead over Trump on two-party support (40-32%) and a 4-point lead on abortion issues (48-44%).
Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received one of his biggest cuts of the electorate in a major poll so far, garnering 15 percent of respondents.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP/Susan Walsh)
The Pew survey was conducted by live interviewers online or by telephone between July 1 and July 7. Pew Research Center contacted 9,424 adults, 7,729 of whom were registered voters.
The survey was weighted to represent “gender, race, ethnicity, party affiliation, education and other factors” of the U.S. adult population. The poll has a margin of error of about 1.3 percentage points.
