Majority Of Catholics Say Biden Should Not Seek Second White House Bid, Poll Reveals
NEW YORK — Most Catholic voters agree that President Joe Biden should not run for a second term in 2024, while Republicans are also favored by this voter bloc in the upcoming midterm elections, a new poll released Monday found.
The new EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll of likely Catholic voters revealed that Biden — the country’s second Catholic president — continues to face headwinds two years after being elected.
A majority of respondents — 58% — said the 79-year-old Biden should not run again, while only 22% support another White House run by the former vice president. Another 19% said they are not sure.
READ: Biden Says Pope Francis Called Him A ‘Good Catholic’ As Vatican Declines To Comment
Most Catholics, meanwhile, by a margin of 67% to 27%, said they do not want former President Donald Trump to run for president again, the survey found.
The country endures high inflation and a poor economy as the pandemic continues to ease. Both issues ranked first and second, respectively, in the survey, followed by a two-way tie for third between abortion and immigration.
Biden has said he plans to run for a second term. Trump, who has yet to announce his plans for 2024, leads among all potential GOP contenders should he choose to run for a third time.
Exit polls show that 52% of all Catholic voters went for Biden in 2020 and 47% for Trump. In 2016, by comparison, showed a 46% Catholic vote for Hillary Clinton and 50% for Trump.
One notable outcome of this latest survey showed Biden losing support among Hispanics, once a reliable voter base of support for Democrats. Asked how Hispanic Catholics feel Biden is handling his job, 50% of those surveyed said they either strongly approve (11%) or approve (39%). Nearly 47% responded that they either disapprove (7%) or strongly disapprove (40%).
The first EWTN/RealClear Opinion Research Poll of this election season released this past July found that Biden’s approval rating among white Catholics to be 36%, while 59% of Hispanic Catholics agreed.
The disparity, meanwhile, between Catholics who attend Mass regularly and those who go once a year or never is reflected in this latest poll, the second of three that will be released by EWTN this election season.
Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly or more, for example, disapprove of the president’s handling of his job by a margin of 73%, the poll found. His approval rating among Catholics who attend Mass a few times a year or less is 53%.
GOP comes out on top in midterms for now
The poll is also a snapshot of what Catholics think ahead of the midterm elections, which take place Nov. 8. The midterms tend to be a referendum on whoever is occupying the White House, and this year will be no different.
The EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll found that almost 49% would vote for the GOP candidate in the generic ballot for either the House or Senate. Only 45% said they would vote for a Democrat.
As Americans continue to remain politically polarized and split down the middle on so many issues, Catholics could once again play a large role in determining this year’s results.
Catholics could decide state and federal outcomes in places such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, where they remain a major voting bloc.
Among Catholics who attend Mass once a week or more, 75% say they would vote for the Republican candidate, while 54% of those who attend a few times a year or less would vote for the Democrat.
When the same question was asked about their preference for candidates in the midterms, Hispanic Catholics are evenly divided: 45% favoring the Democrat and 44% the Republican.
Catholics evenly split on abortion
When it comes to abortion, Catholics remain divided as well. Asked whether they agree or disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year, 48% said abortion should be a federally protected right; 46% said each state should determine its own policy.
Catholics polled said pregnancy resource centers should receive public funding, with 67% in favor and 18% opposed.
Biden, a practicing Catholic who attends Mass on Sundays, has publicly supported abortion, putting him at odds with many U.S. bishops, some of whom have said he should be denied Holy Communion because the position goes directly against Catholic teaching.
Pope Francis has said politics should not be a factor when it comes to the decision on who receives the Eucharist.
The poll surveyed 1,581 Catholic voters and was conducted from Sept. 12 to 19 by the Trafalgar Group. It has a margin of error of 2.5%.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor at Religion Unplugged and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. His new book “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event” comes out Oct. 12. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.