Donald Trump Beats Joe Biden in 2024 Election

Many moderate Republicans switched allegiances in last year's election and backed Joe Biden because they could not abide four more years of Donald Trump.

These voters, who swung from backing Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020, helped make the difference for Biden in places where the margins were close — often, the suburbs.

So today, about eight months into Biden's presidency, how do these voters view him?

In a pair of virtual focus groups NPR observed last week, featuring more than a dozen such voters from key states, a picture emerged of disappointment with Biden — but no regrets that they helped send Trump packing after one term.

Handling of Afghanistan hurt Biden's credibility
Let's start with the disappointment.

Polls show Biden's public approval ratings have taken a hit in recent months. The voters in these focus groups reflected that slide.



They were worried about the spread of the delta variant and how COVID-19 continues to hurt the economy. They were wary of Democrats' big spending plans on infrastructure and other programs, alarmed by the troubles they see along the Texas border, and were very disturbed by the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"What happened in Afghanistan, to me, was the worst thing that's happened since Saigon." That reference to the 1975 U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam came from Paul, who lives in central Pennsylvania. (We agreed to identify focus group participants by first name only.)

He didn't buy Biden's explanation that Trump set the exit in motion by committing to a withdrawal of troops in a deal with the Taliban last year.

"He didn't have to stick to the timeframe Trump set up," Paul asserted, "but he kept sticking to it and sticking to it, and a lot of people died and a lot of people were left behind. So I think that was squarely on him."

Still, perhaps unlike the pandemic and the economy, Afghanistan may fade from the news over time and, as such, may not affect long-term impressions of Biden as much.

And on the coronavirus, the focus group participants — all vaccinated — mostly gave Biden solid marks. It's clear he benefits from comparisons to his predecessor on that.

"He's definitely been better than Trump on handling COVID," said Xaveria from the Atlanta area. But she also said the fact that the delta variant is creating such problems means you still can't feel really great about how the current administration is doing regarding the pandemic.