More global confidence in Biden than Trump, poll finds

AP:

People in 34 countries around the world have more confidence in President Joe Biden than his challenger in November’s election, former President Donald Trump, even as there is increased scepticism that United States democracy provides a good model for the rest of the world to follow, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center released on Tuesday.

The poll found a median of 43 per cent in the surveyed countries say they trust Biden to do the right thing in world affairs, compared to 28 per cent for Trump. People had a more positive assessment of Biden than Trump in 24 countries, while Trump led in Hungary and Tunisia, and the two men were effectively tied in eight other countries.

The greater confidence in Biden comes as faith in US democracy is waning. While a median of 54 per cent in the 34 countries polled have positive views of the US, a median of four in 10 across the surveyed nations told the pollsters that its democracy used to be a good example for other countries to follow, but no longer is.

A median of 21 per cent said US democracy remains a good example for other nations, while an almost identical share, 22 per cent, said it never has been. Since the spring of 2021, the only other time Pew asked the question, the share of those who believe US democracy is a good example has fallen in eight countries, mostly in Europe.

“People just don’t see the US political system as functioning very well,” said Richard Wike, director of global attitudes research for Pew. “People see the US as really divided along partisan lines.”

There is far less of a global divide between Trump and Biden. Confidence in the current president to do the right thing in world affairs has dropped since his first year in office but remains well above that of his rival, who had relatively low global ratings during his own presidency. Biden’s lowest confidence ratings were over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with a median of 57 per cent saying they had no confidence in it.

A median of 39 per cent in the surveyed countries said they approved of Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine, with his highest ratings in European nations. And a median of about four in 10 were confident in his handling of China.

Of the five leaders rated in the survey, French President Emmanuel Macron registered the highest level of confidence, just ahead of Biden, while Russian President Vladimir Putin received the lowest.

While confidence in Biden has dwindled in countries ranging from South Africa to Israel to the UK, it remains steadily higher than that in Trump. The former president received his poorest assessments in Europe – where those expressing no confidence in him included more than eight in 10 adults in France, Germany and Sweden – and Latin America.

Africa, which Wike said tends to have positive views of US presidents, registered some of Trump’s best numbers. Even in the two countries where more confidence was expressed in Trump than Biden, they were down on the former president. In Tunisia, for example, only 17 per cent expressed confidence in him.