Voters remain skeptical of President Joe Biden's mental fitness for his job.
The latest I&I/TIPP Poll revealed that 51% responded that they would rate Biden's mental sharpness either "poor" (18%) or "unacceptable" (33%), versus a minority of 29% who answered that his mental abilities warranted either an "excellent" (13%) or "good" (16%) grade.
The national online poll was conducted from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, just days before special counsel Robert Hur's Feb. 5 report was released that showed the president had a "poor memory," forgetting what years he was vice president and when his son had died.
Hur said he would not try Biden on charges of mishandling an estimated 300 classified documents because his declining mental abilities would make him very difficult to convict.
In recent weeks, Biden has misnamed the presidents of France and Germany, and confused the president of Egypt with Mexico.
There is a sharp partisan difference between Democrats and Republicans in the poll of Biden's mental fitness. Just 19% of Democrats give Biden either "poor" (11%) or "unacceptable" (8%) marks for his mental acuity, compared to the 82% of GOP members that called Biden's mental clarity "poor" (21%) or "unacceptable" (61%).
Independents lay in the middle of the two parties.
Among all voters, 47% termed Biden's physical health either poor (21%) or unacceptable (26%), while only 28% called his health either excellent (10%) or good (18%).
Among Dems, 49% gave Biden high passing grades for overall health, while 17% gave him failing or poor grades. For Republicans, just 8% gave Biden the best health grades, while 76% put him in the near-failing or failing category.
According to the analysis of the Presidential Leadership Index, produced by Investor's Business Daily (IBD) and TIPP Insights, Biden is currently showing "significant" vulnerability in 18 key demographics heading into November's race, up from just five in November, Newsweek pointed out.
The latest Presidential Leadership Index shows that Biden is currently receiving "significant" negative momentum from 18 groups, including white men and women, independent and moderate voters, and young adults aged 18-24.
The Presidential Leadership Index also shows that Biden is currently showing "considerable" negative momentum among nine demographic groups, including suburban and rural voters, those with college degrees or higher, as well as Black and Hispanic voters, Newsweek noted.
"Our momentum analysis shows that Biden's standing among Americans has weakened significantly in the past three months. He faces headwinds among a broad spectrum of Americans," the TIPP Insights editorial board wrote.
The national online poll was conducted from Jan. 31-Feb. 2, just days before the Justice Department's Feb. 5 report, and included 1,266 respondents. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.