President Donald Trump’s favorability has remained stable since July 2020. Fewer than four in ten (38%) Americans hold favorable views of Trump and nearly six in ten (59%) view him unfavorably. Trump’s current favorability is the same as it was in July (38% favorable, 59% unfavorable) and it is not significantly different from May (41% favorable, 55% unfavorable) or April (42% favorable, 54% unfavorable), but it is substantially down from his high point in March (49% favorable, 46% unfavorable). The current numbers are slightly lower than his 2019 average (41% favorable, 55% unfavorable), but again, the difference is not statistically significant. 

Favorable views of Trump remain essentially unchanged across many demographic groups since July 2020. None of the July-August differences shown in the charts are statistically significant. However, differences between 2019 averages and August 2020 are significant for Democrats (from 15% to 11%), men (from 47% to 42%), Americans ages 30 to 49 (from 39% to 31%) and Americans living in battleground states (from 43% to 37%). Notably, since 2019 favorable views of Trump have declined significantly among white Americans overall (from 49% to 44%) and among a number of important white subgroups, including white Christians overall (from 54% to 46%), white Catholics (from 49% to 38%), and white Americans with a four-college degree (42% to 35%).

Biden Favorability 

Americans remain more positive toward the former vice president and presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden, with a slim majority (51%) now holding a favorable view, and 45% holding an unfavorable view of Trump’s competitor. This is up slightly, but not significantly, from July (48% favorable), and still unchanged since September 2019, when 49% viewed Biden favorably and 45% unfavorably. 

Views of Biden by party and ideology have not significantly shifted, although the increase among Republicans (18%) relative to July (13%) is a trend to keep an eye on. Similarly, although not statistically significant, the upward movement among white men (42% compared to 36% in July) and white Americans without four-year college degrees (42% compared to 35% in July) could become important if it continues. Favorable views of Biden have increased significantly among white Catholics. Almost two-thirds (66%) now hold favorable views of him, compared to 40% in July.

Topline and Survey Methodology

PRRI August 2020 Survey

August 4, 2020 – August 9, 2020

N=1,009

Would you say your overall opinion of Donald Trump is very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable?

Would you say your overall opinion of Joe Biden is very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable?

The survey was designed and conducted by PRRI. Results of the survey are based on bilingual (Spanish and English) RDD telephone interviews conducted between August 4 and August 9, 2020, by professional interviewers under the direction of SSRS. Interviews were conducted among a random sample of 1,009 adults 18 years of age or older living in the United States (704 respondents were interviewed on a cell phone). The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.5 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence, which includes the design effect for the survey of 1.4.