NBC News Unpacks "Erosion Of Public Confidence" In Biden "On A Number Of Critical Fronts"

President Joe Biden is suffering �erosion� on a number of �critical fronts�
in polling that pits him against former President Donald Trump, NBC News
National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki said on Sunday.

During an appearance on �Meet The Press,� Kornacki used an interactive screen
to discuss with host Kristen Welker NBC�s survey in April, which showed Trump
performing better than Biden across several categories with a little more
than half a year until the November presidential election.

On �Handling A Crisis,� Trump beat Biden 46%-42%; on �Strong Record As
President,� Trump topped Biden 46%-39%; and on �Competent & Effective,� Trump
prevailed over Biden 47%-36%. On �Dealing With Inflation & Cost of Living,�
Trump led Biden 52%-30%; and on �Necessary Mental/Physical Health,� Trump
bested Biden 45%-26%.

NBC POLL: WHICH CANDIDATE IS BETTER�.?

� Handling a crisis: Trump +4

� Strong record as president: Trump +7

� Competent and effective: Trump +9

� Necessary mental and physical health: Trump +19

� Dealing with inflation and cost of living: Trump +22
pic.twitter.com/1qMMM4AUg4

� RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 21, 2024

Kornacki said these findings are �troubling� for the Biden campaign, as they
show �the erosion of public confidence on a number of critical fronts.� He
stressed that Biden had the advantage in the competency and crisis management
questions in the 2020 election, both of which are now showing more positive
numbers for Trump.

�You�ve got to mention this one, too. �Necessary mental and physical health.�
We asked this four years ago, it was a wash. It�s now a clear liability for
Joe Biden. So these are all troubling numbers for Biden, but it�s not to say
there aren�t warning signs for Donald Trump in this poll either,� Kornacki
said.

Two areas in which Biden rose above Trump included abortion and the ability
to bring the country together, though Kornacki opined that he thought the
�headline here is you add those two numbers together, you�re not even close
to 100. That means a lot of voters think neither candidate is better on
that.�

Kornacki said the poll found Trump with 46%-44% lead over Biden in another
head-to-head matchup, though he stressed that the margin between the
candidates has gotten smaller over the past few months. This coincided with
Biden�s job approval rating having a �slight improvement,� he observed.
Still, Kornacki explained, Biden�s job performance numbers lag behind other
recent presidents.

Adding a third candidate to the mix, in particular independent Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., put Biden ahead of the rest, Kornacki said. �Joe Biden, 39%;
Donald Trump, 37%. There�s Kennedy getting 13%. In other words, we�re seeing
by a better than 2:1 margin, it�s Trump voters who are flipping over to
Kennedy in this scenario, not Biden voters,� he said.

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Let's go Brandon!