By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A new Rasmussen survey released Wednesday shows nearly two-thirds of likely voters (65%) believe the U.S. crime problem is getting worse, a hike of five percentage points from the last time the question was asked two months ago.
Only 12 percent of survey respondents think the crime situation is improving while 20 percent see things as remaining “about the same,” Rasmussen said.
The survey of 1,038 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on May 24-25 by Rasmussen Reports, with a +/- 3 percentage point margin of sampling error and a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC, the polling firm said.
By no surprise, Republicans (77%) and Independents (73%) think the problem of violent crime is getting worse, while only 47 percent of Democrats think so. Conversely, 61 percent of Democrats think President Joe Biden is doing a good or excellent job handling crime, while only 16 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Independents agree. Overall, 35 percent of likely voters think Biden is “doing a good or excellent job of handling crime and law enforcement issues,” but that’s down from 41 percent in March, and 48 percent now give Biden a poor rating on crime issues.”
“Slightly more women voters (69%) than men (61%) see the crime problem as getting worse,” Rasmussen said. “Men (21%) are more likely than women voters (13%) to rate Biden as doing an excellent job of handling crime and law enforcement issues.”
And here’s a revelation that could have a long-term impact on the political atmosphere as the 2024 elections loom: Majorities of every racial category – 67 percent of whites, 66 percent of black voters and 60 percent of other minorities – believe the problem of violent crime in America is getting worse, according to Rasmussen.
Possibly worse still for Biden and Democrats, Rasmussen learned “Black voters are less likely to rate Biden as doing an excellent job of handling crime and law enforcement issues.”
Couple this with the results of Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, which finds 44 percent of likely voters approve of Biden’s job performance, while 54 percent disapprove. Break this down further, however, and the news is bad with only 24 percent saying they “strongly approve” of Biden’s job performance while 45 percent—almost 2-to-1—“strongly disapproving” of his performance.
Just when things look like they couldn’t get worse, Rasmussen found in a separate survey only 28 percent of likely voters think the country is heading in the right direction while 67 percent believe the country is on the wrong track. That’s a little better than the same time last year (25%) or a bit worse when 68 percent said the country is on the wrong track.
