Biden’s 2024 Problem: Voters Say His Policies Hurt Them

“I don’t think he has really done much for us, nothing that benefits me really," said Gilbert, 65 years old, a retiree living on a fixed income in Fenton, Mo. He voted for Biden in 2020, but doesn’t think he will support him again.

Gilbert isn’t a fan of Donald Trump either, but he felt that the economy was better when Trump was in office. “I think Trump did a pretty good job if he shut his mouth," said Gilbert, who is considering voting for a third-party candidate next year.

More than half the country now thinks Biden’s policies have done them harm and nearly as many voters think Trump’s policies helped them, a foreboding sign for the incumbent heading into a likely rematch with his 2020 foe.

For Biden, the finding in a recent Wall Street Journal poll offers a stark explanation of why support from those who helped put him in office is waning. It also illustrates why Democrats are increasingly worried about his prospects, even against an unpopular Republican opponent with whom Biden hopes to draw a contrast.

Voters across the political spectrum single out inflation and high prices as a chief complaint about Biden’s presidency, but some also are upset with his broader record on domestic and foreign policy. Many voters couldn’t cite specific Biden administration policies they disliked, but instead channeled a pervasive malaise in the country that they said was difficult to pin down. Several said they were considering supporting an alternative to either party’s front-runner or not voting at all.

In interviews with voters, what’s striking is that the frustration is coming from all sides of the coalition that put Biden in the White House.

Liberal voters are angry about Biden’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza, and complain that he hasn’t done enough to enact the progressive policies he laid out during the 2020 campaign, including large-scale student loan forgiveness. Centrist voters want him to do more to secure the border, while left-leaning voters think his immigration policies have moved too far to the right.

Among Democrats and independents who lean that way, 45% say Biden’s policies hurt them personally or had no impact on them, according to the Journal poll. Among voters overall, 53% of voters said Biden’s policies hurt them, and less than a quarter—23%— said they were helped by his policies. Some 49% of voters said Trump’s policies personally helped them, while just 37% said they hurt them.

Democratic pollster Michael Bocian said voters are “hearing a lot right now about how things are bad for them economically and they’re remembering that inflation was lower during the time that Trump was president." He conducted the Journal poll in late November and early December with Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who characterized the findings as “very startling." Fabrizio works for a Trump super PAC.

Voters’ low marks on Biden’s record come as many of them remain pessimistic about the economy despite relatively strong economic data.

During Biden’s nearly three years in office, inflation reached 9.1%, its highest in more than four decades, but has since plummeted to 3.1%. Meanwhile, the labor market has remained strong throughout his presidency, with relatively low unemployment, and wage growth that started to outpace prices earlier this year. Stocks reached record highs after easing inflation prompted the Federal Reserve on Wednesday to extend a pause in interest-rate hikes and signal further increases are unlikely.

Biden has presided over one of the most sweeping legislative agendas of any president in decades, including a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, a massive climate change, tax and healthcare package and a multibillion-dollar measure to strengthen the domestic semiconductor industry. Biden’s $430 billion plan to eliminate student loans held by 40 million Americans was blocked by the Supreme Court.

Trump’s marquee legislative accomplishment was the most far-reaching overhaul of the U.S. tax system in decades, a measure that reduced the corporate tax rate and lowered taxes on most individuals. He presided over the establishment of a new U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement, while placing tariffs on other major trading partners, namely China. The Trump administration built nearly 500 miles of border wall to stem unlawful entries, though much of it replaced existing, shorter barriers. Trump oversaw the initial U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which featured the federal government shoveling trillions into the economy.

Economists say spending approved by Trump and Biden cushioned the economy during the early months of the pandemic, then sped its recovery. Still, when the economy began to reopen in 2021, that demand collided with labor shortages and supply-chain bottlenecks to fuel inflation, which was compounded when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent gasoline prices up sharply.

Gabrielle Nixon, 24, who lives outside Savannah, Ga., faulted Biden for resuming construction of the border wall, for failing to follow through on his promise to forgive student debt on a massive scale and for not doing more to protect civilians in Gaza. After the Supreme court struck down Biden’s proposal to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student debt for people making less than $125,000 a year, the Biden administration has proceeded with more narrow loan cancellations for millions of borrowers.

“He’s alienating his younger base," said Nixon, a manager at a shipping warehouse who voted for Biden in 2020 and said she likely won’t vote for him in 2024. Like some others interviewed by the Journal, she said she would never support Trump. But she is considering other candidates like Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz, who is running for president as the candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Stephanie Evans, 38, a business owner who lives in southern Colorado, said the past year has felt extra hard. “A lot of people are waking up to the economic injustices even more—sending money to Ukraine, sending money to Israel. And here we are kind of feeling like the forgotten stepchildren," she said.

Evans, who voted for Biden in 2020, said she doesn’t plan on voting for either Biden or Trump in 2024, adding that she didn’t feel like their policies affected her in a significant way. She said she hasn’t decided who she will support, but has been looking into Marianne Williamson.

The president’s allies said they feel confident they can win over voters in the 11 months before the election, arguing that the public will see the contrast between Trump and Biden as the campaign kicks into high gear. They also noted that Biden’s positions on healthcare, drug prices, abortion and other issues are popular with voters.

“If the media has forgotten, we are happy to remind them of the very similar polls and headlines that said the president was going to be in trouble last November," said Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz, referring to Democrats’ strong performance in the midterm elections. “They were wrong." Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Americans know that they were better off with Trump as president."

Biden has often pointed to the labor market’s strength as evidence his economic policies are working. The unemployment rate dropped from 6.3% at the start of his term to 3.4% early in 2023, matching lows last seen in the late 1960s. Unemployment has edged up since then, but remains tame. Unemployment was 4.7% at the start of Trump’s term and fell during his presidency to multidecade lows.

Inflation, as measured by the consumer-price index, was mostly muted during Trump’s term. Annual inflation averaged roughly 1.9% between January 2017 and January 2021, and consumer prices rose about 7.8% during that time. Consumer prices have surged 17% during Biden’s term, with annual inflation averaging 5.8%.

The price of a regular gallon of gasoline—which factors heavily into how Americans feel about the economy—was essentially unchanged over Trump’s term. It is up by more than $1 since the start of Biden’s presidency, though it is down sharply from its post-Ukraine invasion peak.

Trump benefits from having a mostly prepandemic presidency, which might influence the rosier assessment voters give his tenure. Voters also view the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner as better able to handle many major issues, including the economy, inflation, crime, border security and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the survey.

“He can be pompous at times, but if he says he’s going to do something you can bet he’s going to do it," said Christine Jung, 73, a Republican and retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who lives in Stuart, Fla. Jung voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to support him again. “I can’t stand the fact that the border is open. Terrorists are everywhere. I fear for our country."

Melissa Garcia Johnson, 33, of Anchorage, Alaska, also expressed frustration that Biden’s efforts to cancel student loans for the majority of borrowers hadn’t moved forward.

“The simplest way to put it is I’m really not a fan of him and his performance," Johnson said. She and her husband are struggling to purchase a home. “There’s a serious issue with interest rates on homes right now. I’m in my mid-30s and I’m still renting," said Johnson, a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020 and is undecided about how she will vote next year.

Most Republicans and Republican-leaning independents—88%—think Trump’s policies helped them, the poll found. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents think Trump’s policies hurt, but one in 10 think they helped.

“My 401(k) just went wild when that guy was there, and it’s not the same as it was," said Patricia Searle, 59, of Waverly, Neb., of Trump’s presidency, even though stocks have risen during Biden’s tenure. She voted for Biden in 2020 and said she would likely reluctantly support him again.

Aaron Zitner contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Restuccia at andrew.restuccia@wsj.com and Amara Omeokwe at amara.omeokwe@wsj.com