FEBRUARY HARVARD CAPS / HARRIS POLL: IMMIGRATION REMAINS TOP ISSUE AS VOTERS SAY BIDEN'S BIGGEST FAILURE IS HIS OPEN BORDERS POLICY

71% OF VOTERS THINK INFLATION HAS PROVEN IT’S HERE TO STAY

NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) today released the results of the February Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) and the Harris Poll and HarrisX.

President Joe Biden’s overall approval rating rose to 45% while his immigration approval remained at 35%, his lowest on any issue. Immigration and inflation are the top two issues for voters for the second month in a row. The poll also covers public opinion on the 2024 horse race and the Israel-Hamas war. Download key results here.

“The current issue set of immigration and inflation favors the Republicans, but there is still time for the Biden administration to take action and win them back,” said Mark Penn, Co-Director of the Harvard CAPS / Harris poll and Stagwell Chairman and CEO. “Right now the headline for the election is, ‘It’s the border, stupid.'”

IMMIGRATION CONCERNS CONTINUE TO BE FRONT AND CENTER

• Voters say Biden’s biggest failure was creating an open borders policy and a historic flood of immigrants. (Voters say Biden’s biggest accomplishment was lowering the cost of prescription drugs.)
• 62% of voters support impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, including 48% of Democrats.
• 55% of voters supported Trump’s calls to stop the Senate’s compromise immigration bill, which would have allowed 5,000 migrants to enter per day until new measures kicked in.

INFLATION LOOKS STICKY TO VOTERS

• 71% of voters think price increases and inflation have proven to be sticky and are here to stay – including 58% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans.
• 45% of voters say their personal financial situation is getting worse – down from 64% in summer 2022.
• 42% say inflation is the most important issue to them personally, up 4 points from January.

VOTERS ARE CONCERNED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON BIDEN’S AGE AND MEMORY ISSUES

• 59% of voters say age and memory lapses are inadequate justification for Special Counsel Robert Hur not pursuing criminal charges in the classified documents case.
• 76% of voters, including 64% of Democrats, want the transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden to be released publicly.
• 71% of voters, including 50% of Democrats, would consider it an impeachable offense if it were true that Biden worked with his son and brother to help bring in multimillion-dollar fees from China, Russia and Ukraine while he was vice president.

TRUMP KEEPS LEAD DESPITE LEGAL CHALLENGES

• Trump beats Biden by 6 points in the head-to-head matchup.
• 57% of voters say they approve of the job Trump did as president.
• 54% think the New York judge’s recent ruling that Trump defrauded state banks was fair.

ISRAEL SUPPORT REMAINS STRONG

• 82% of voters support Israel over Hamas (with 72% support among 18-24-year-olds, their highest percentage to date).
• 63% of voters support Israel continuing its ground invasion into Southern Gaza to root out the final elements of Hamas.

The February Harvard CAPS / Harris poll survey was conducted online within the United States on February 21-22, 2024, among 2,022 registered voters by The Harris Poll and HarrisX. Follow the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll podcast at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. 

About The Harris Poll & HarrisX
The Harris Poll is a global consulting and market research firm that strives to reveal the authentic values of modern society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. It works with clients in three primary areas: building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. One of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., The Harris Poll has tracked public opinion, motivations, and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Stagwell, the challenger holding company built to transform marketing.

HarrisX is a technology-driven market research and data analytics company that conducts multi-method research in the U.S. and over 40 countries around the world on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, public policy institutions, global leaders, NGOs and philanthropic organizations. HarrisX was the most accurate pollster of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

About the Harvard Center for American Political Studies
The Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) is committed to and fosters the interdisciplinary study of U.S. politics.  Governed by a group of political scientists, sociologists, historians, and economists within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, CAPS drives discussion, research, public outreach, and pedagogy about all aspects of U.S. politics. CAPS encourages cutting-edge research using a variety of methodologies, including historical analysis, social surveys, and formal mathematical modeling, and it often cooperates with other Harvard centers to support research training and encourage cross-national research about the United States in comparative and global contexts. More information at https://caps.gov.harvard.edu/.

Media Contact
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com