Eye-opening poll reveals whether Americans prefer Obama or Trump as president

A new poll has lifted the lid on how American voters currently feel about Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Voters in Virginia and New Jersey are set to head to the ballot box for crucial gubernatorial elections on Tuesday (November 4), amid rising tensions over the 2026 midterm elections in Congress.

The former Democratic 44th POTUS, Obama, appeared before rallies in Newark and Norfolk on Saturday (November 1) to lend his support to candidates Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger who polls suggest both Democrats could win.

Yet while delivering his speeches, the 64-year-old appeared to depart from his usual diplomatic reserve by taking aim at the current Trump administration.

He said the Republicans' policies are 'worse than even I expected' before launching into his tirade, going on to infer Trump has waged a war against free speech, immigrants and public health while deploying the National Guard to cities in a bid to stop 'crime waves that don't actually exist'.

Now, an eye-opening poll from Marquette University has revealed Americans favor Obama over Trump based on a survey of 1,005 adults across the country from September 5 to September 24 this year.

Obama slammed the Trump administration in his speeches over the weekend (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The poll revealed 42 per cent of US citizens said they viewed Trump favourably, to 57 per cent who said they viewed him unfavorably, leaving the POTUS with a net favourability of -15 points.

Meanwhile, 57 per cent said they view Obama favorably, against 40 per cent who didn't, giving him a net favorability of 17 points.

Meena Bose, executive dean of Hofstra University's Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, told Newsweek that the poll appears to show Obama's 'personal appeal, inspirational rhetoric, and unanticipated success in the 2008 presidential race continue to have strong public support'.

She added: "The promise of hope and change was a defining feature of the Obama presidential campaign and still influences assessments of his presidency."

The poll ranks the POTUS with a negative favourability rating (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

However, the poll doesn't necessarily indicate a shift towards the former president or even Democrats, as it surveyed the favorability of all presidents since Ronald Reagan, who stands as the most preferred of any other with a net +28 rating, while Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, suffered the worst of them all.

The 46th POTUS scored a staggering -24 net favourability rating.

Bose explained Biden's shocking low result could have come from his withdrawal from the campaign, which may 'overshadow current assessments of his presidency.'

Former President George H.W. Bush scored a +17 favorability rating, while both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush shared a +8 favorability.

The insight comes as Obama continues to remain popular among the electorate since his time in office came to a close in 2017.

No other president scored as poorly as Joe Biden (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A Gallup poll earlier this year found he was the most popular living president (in the eyes of 59 per cent of participants to 36 per cent).

It also comes as Democrats hope to anchor Republican candidates across the country to Trump during the gubernatorial races and ahead of the midterm elections next year.

Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, told the Mirror US: "The question is whether or not Republicans are doing enough this time to completely breach it or partially breach it.

"I think even among the most nervous of Democrats, there’s no question that Republicans have to have a very big Election Day in order to be able to overcome what could be as much as 250 or 275,000 vote margin for Democrats at this point."