More voters say Trump’s presidency was better than expected: Survey

More voters are looking back on former President Trump’s time in office and saying he did a better job than they expected him to do, a survey published Friday by NBC News found.

As President Biden and Trump gear up for a likely 2020 presidential rematch later this year, the survey asked respondents to view each of their respective terms.

Forty percent of voters said Trump’s presidency was better than they expected it would be, 31 percent said it was “about as expected” and 29 percent said it was worse than they had anticipated.

The survey found that perspectives on Biden’s time in office were less optimistic. Just 14 percent of respondents say Biden’s presidency has gone better than expected, 44 percent said it has gone as expected and 42 percent of voters said it’s worse than they thought it would.

NBC News noted it asked voters the same question in 2018 when Trump was in office. He received worse scores back then, the outlet said.

Biden has struggled to maintain support within his own party; 52 percent of Democratic respondents said the Biden administration has met expectations, while 30 percent say it’s been better than they anticipated and 18 percent of Democrats say it’s been worse.

Trump, on the other hand, has more enthusiastic supporters, NBC News noted. Eighty percent of Republican respondents said his time in office was better than they expected, and only 6 percent said it was worse.

Independent voters also leaned more for Trump. Among independent respondents, 18 percent said Trump’s term went worse than they expected, while 52 percent say the same about Biden.

The results come during a complicated time for the incumbent president. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Biden has an unfavorability rating of 53.9 percent, while 43.3 percent view his presidency favorably.

The NBC News poll was conducted Jan. 26-30 among 1,000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.