People in 34 countries around the world have more confidence in President Joe Biden than in his challenger in the November election, former President Donald Trump, even as there is growing skepticism that American democracy is a good model for the rest of the world to follow. can follow, according to a poll published on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
The poll found that across countries surveyed, an average of 43% say they trust Biden to do the right thing in world affairs, compared to 28% for Trump. In 24 countries, people had a more positive opinion of Biden than Trump, while Trump was leading in Hungary and Tunisia and the two men were effectively tied in eight other countries.
The increased confidence in Biden comes as confidence in American democracy declines. While an average of 54% in the 34 countries surveyed have a positive view of the US, an average of 4 in 10 in the countries surveyed told pollsters that its democracy used to be a good example for other countries to follow, but that is no longer.
An average of 21% said American democracy remains a good example for other countries, while a nearly identical share, 22%, said this has never been the case. Since spring 2021, the only other time Pew asked the question, the share of those who believe American democracy is a good example has fallen in eight countries, mostly in Europe.
“People just don’t think the American political system is 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 much less of a global divide between Trump and Biden. Confidence in the current president to do the right thing in world affairs has fallen 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 on his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, with a median of 57% saying they were not confident.
An average of 39% in countries surveyed said they approved of Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine, with his highest ratings in European countries. And an average of about four in ten felt confident in their dealings with China.
Of the five leaders assessed in the survey, French President Emmanuel Macron registered the highest level of trust, just ahead of Biden, while Russian President Vladimir Putin received the lowest level.
While trust in Biden has declined in countries ranging from South Africa to Israel and Britain, it remains steadily higher than that in Trump. The former president got his worst ratings in Europe — where those who expressed no confidence in him included more than eight in 10 adults in France, Germany and Sweden — and Latin America.
Africa, which Wike said generally has positive views of U.S. presidents, recorded some of Trump’s best numbers. Even in the two countries where more confidence was expressed in Trump than in Biden, they trailed the former president. In Tunisia, for example, only 17% expressed confidence in him.
Hungary is the other country where adults report greater trust in Trump than Biden, but even there it is far from a convincing statement of support. Trump has embraced Hungary and its autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but only 37% in Hungary say they have confidence in him, compared to 24% for Biden.
The average level of confidence in Trump’s ability to do right in world affairs was only slightly higher across the 34 countries than Chinese President Xi Jinping.
