A Pew Research Center poll has found that a majority — 63% — of American voters find Donald Trump and Joe Biden "embarrassing" presidential candidates.
In additon, a third or more of each candidate's supporters — 37% of Biden supporters and 33% of Trump supporters — say their own candidate is embarrassing.
A hefty 87% of those survey said the presidential campaign does not make them "proud" of the nation, with 68% saying the contest is too negative.
Yet 44% would vote for Trump at this stage, while only 40% would vote for Biden, and 15% would choose Robert Kennedy Jr., according to the poll, which was taken July 1-7, after the president's troubling debate against Trump in late June.
If Kennedy or another candidate were not in the picture, 50% would vote for Trump and 47% would vote for Biden, according to the Pew poll.
Only about a quarter of voters (24%) say the phrase "mentally sharp" describes Biden very or fairly well, a drop of six points since January, underscoring his challenges in the wake of his stumbling debate and more recent gaffes.
More than twice as many polled voters (58%) describe Trump as mentally sharp, according to the poll, Pew reports.
Nearly 64% of those surveyed believe Trump is "mean-spirited," while only 31% believe that of Biden.
Trump leads Biden among voters ages 50 and older by 48% to 39% (11% back Kennedy). But Trump's support slips to 42% over Biden's 37% (19% for Kennedy) among voters ages 30 to 49.
Biden holds a wide lead over Trump among voters under 30 (48% to 28%), with 22% backing Kennedy.
Trump has an advantage among white voters (50% to 36% for Biden), while Biden holds a wide lead over Trump among Black voters (64% to Trump's 13%) with 21% supporting Kennedy.
Trump is holding on to more of his past voters than Biden, according to the poll.
Nearly nine-in-ten voters (88%) who backed Trump four years ago support him today, while 79% of Biden's 2020 voters support him today. About one-in-seven (14%) of Biden's voters four years ago now prefer Kennedy, while 8% of Trump's 2020 voters now say they're voting for Kennedy, the poll found.
