March 2024 Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll Debrief

Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

The poll was conducted March 20-21, 2024, among 2,111 registered voters by HarrisX and The Harris Poll.

President Joe Biden's overall approval rating remained at 45%, while 55% of voters say they approve of Donald Trump's job as president. Immigration and inflation remained voters' top two concerns for the third month in a row.

Stay tuned for the next Harvard CAPS / Harris poll podcast debrief at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or other podcast platforms.

Other key findings include:

VOTERS SPLIT ON BIDEN'S STATE OF THE UNION BUT RACE NARROWS SLIGHTLY

• 52% of voters have an unfavorable opinion of Biden's State of the Union address.
• 54% of voters, including 70% of non-watchers, think Biden did not address the issues that they and their families are concerned about in the speech.
• 53% believe Biden delivered the speech effectively.
• Trump is leading Biden by 2 points in the general head-to-head, down from 6 points last month. 20% of Independents say they are unsure.

VOTERS ARE FINE WITH "ILLEGAL" AND "UNDOCUMENTED" TERMS AS IMMIGRATION REMAINS TOP CONCERN

• 73% of voters believe it is appropriate to refer to those who enter the U.S. without permission as "illegal immigrants"; 68% believe it is appropriate to refer to them as "undocumented immigrants."
• 63% of voters have heard of the story of murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and 70% believe the case shows that the U.S. needs stricter immigration policies.

TIKTOK BAN IS DIVIDED BY GENERATION, NOT PARTY

• 64% of voters believe the risks posed by TikTok to Americans' personal security and the country's national security outweigh the benefits of using TikTok for American brands and content creators (ages 18-24: 49%; ages 65+: 85%).
• 65% of voters support the bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance does not sell it to a U.S. government-approved buyer (ages 18-24: 43%; ages 65+: 84%).
• Voters are most concerned about potential election interference from Russia (74%), China (73%), Iran (60%), Hamas (56%) and tech companies (51%).

ISRAEL SUPPORT REMAINS STRONG WITH SCHUMER CRITICIZED FOR CALL TO REMOVE NETANYAHU

• Israel continues to receive high support, 79%, against Hamas.
• 52% of voters say it was inappropriate for Senator Chuck Schumer to call for new elections in Israel to remove Benjamin Netanyahu; but 54% believe this criticism of Israel was fair.
• Netanyahu has a higher net favorable rating in the U.S. (+2 points) than Schumer (-10 points).