Irish voters prefer Biden to Trump, but many are unconvinced by both candidates

Irish voters would much prefer to see Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the event that the US presidential election comes down to a choice between the two men – but a sizeable minority are not convinced by either candidate, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll.

Asked “if the US election this year is a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who would you prefer to see win?” half of all voters – 50 per cent – say they would prefer Biden to win, with just 14 per cent preferring a Trump victory.

But nearly a third – 32 per cent – say that they would like to see neither man win the presidency, with a further 5 per cent offering no opinion.

It is the youngest voters who are most unconvinced by Biden – just a third (33 per cent) of voters aged 18-24 prefer Biden, with 16 per cent preferring Trump. Some 43 per cent say they want neither as presidency, with a further 9 per cent offering no opinion.

The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll: the full results in charts

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By contrast Biden scores best with those over 65, of whom 64 per cent say they want the incumbent re-elected.

Sinn Féin and Independent/other voters are the least enthusiastic about Biden, and show the highest numbers of those favouring a Trump victory.

For instance 71 per cent of Fine Gael supports favour Biden, with just 7 per cent backing Trump; among Sinn Féin voters just 41 per cent back Biden and 16 per cent want to see Trump elected. Among Fianna Fáil voters, 64 per cent favour Biden and just 9 per cent back Trump; for support of Independents and small parties Biden is at 43 per cent and Trump 17 per cent.

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