Harvard Harris Poll - December 2023

Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) today released the results of the December Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) and the Harris Poll and HarrisX.

President Joe Biden's approval rating is 43% with slight upticks in economic sentiment. The generation gap on the Israel-Hamas war remains prevalent as 81% of all voters but only 50% of 18-24-year-olds side with Israel. The poll also covers public opinion on immigration and the 2024 horse race. Download key results here.

"There is bipartisan consensus among voters on many issues right now, from immigration and increased border security to support for Israel and Ukraine," said Mark Penn, Co-Director of the Harvard CAPS / Harris poll and Stagwell Chairman and CEO. "The party that compromises effectively could win over swing voters who remain conflicted between different cross-pressures about the economy and the weaknesses of the leading candidates."

AMERICANS THINK THE U.S. SHOULD SUPPORT BOTH ISRAEL AND UKRAINE

• 65% of voters think the U.S. should be supporting Israel in its war against Hamas; 65% separately think the U.S. should be supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
• 54% of voters support giving $14 billion in aid to Israel; 49% support giving an additional $50 billion in aid to Ukraine. Republicans are most likely to support the aid to Israel and Democrats most support aid to Ukraine.
• 65% of voters, including 51% of Democrats, believe the Republicans should hold up aid to both Israel and Ukraineto get additional border security measures.

VOTERS WANT MORE ACTION ON IMMIGRATION

• Biden's approval rating on immigration dropped 8 points to 38% in the last month.
• 57% of voters believe Trump had better immigration policies than Biden.
• Only 8% of voters knew that over 3 million people crossed the border illegally in the past year; the majority believed the number was under 500,000.

VOTERS THINK THEY ARE WORSE OFF UNDER BIDEN ALTHOUGH VIEWS ON ECONOMY ARE TICKING UP

• 55% of voters say they are worse off personally during Biden's presidency and 61% say they were better off personally during Trump's presidency.
• 44% say the economy is strong today, up 6 points in the past six months.
• Inflation remains the most important issue to voters personally (chosen by 40%).

TRUMP MAINTAINS LEAD IN HORSE RACE WITH WIDESPREAD DOUBTS ABOUT HIM AND BIDEN

• 56% of voters believe Trump will act like a dictator if reelected, but 59% believe Democrats are trying to unfairly scare voters by labeling Trump as a dictator.
• 72% believe a vote for Biden is really a vote for Kamala Harris because he will not likely serve a full second term.
• Trump leads the head-to-head matchup against Biden by 5 points and leads by 7 points when including third-party candidates.

VOTERS WANT HUNTER BIDEN TO AGREE TO DEPOSITION

• 81% of voters, including 72% of Democrats, believe Hunter Biden should appear for a deposition by Congress if asked to explain his business dealings.

GENERATION GAP ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR EXTENDS TO UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS AND POLICIES

• 62% of voters feel university presidents did not go far enough to condemn antisemitism on their campuses in their Congressional testimony (ages 18-24: 67% feel the presidents did go far enough).
• 74% believe students who call for the genocide of Jews should face actions for violating university rules (ages 18-24: 47%).
• 76% believe Jewish students on campus are facing harassment (ages 18-24: 68%).
• 67% of 18-24-year-olds believe Jews as a class are oppressors and should be treated as such (in contrast, 73% of all voters believe this is a false ideology).

The December Harvard CAPS / Harris poll survey was conducted online within the United States on December 13-14, 2023, among 2,034 registered voters by The Harris Poll and HarrisX. Follow the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll podcast at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.