Joe Biden leads Donald Trump among active-duty troops, new poll shows

Among active duty military members, 6 per cent more say they would cast their ballot for Democratic candidate Joe Biden than for President Donald Trump in November, a new poll revealed Monday.

In the Military Times/Institute for Veterans and Military Families survey, 43.1 per cent of active duty military said they would vote for Biden over the 37.4 per cent who said they would vote for the current Commander in Chief.

Public perception usually lends itself to considering active duty military and veterans as leaning right on several issues, including Second Amendment rights, Veterans Affairs and national security.

About 40 per cent surveyed identified as Republican or Libertarian, 16 per cent say they are Democrats and 44 per cent independent or another party. 

A new poll released Monday shows more active duty troops plan to vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden than President Donald Trump in November  

The Military Times poll showed 43.1 per cent of active duty military plan to vote for Biden, 37.4 per cent for Trump and 13 per cent for a third-party candidate

The poll was taken July 27 – August 10 – before the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions earlier this month – and surveyed 1,018 active duty troops.

A similar poll was conducted by Military Times shortly before the 2016 election that showed Trump leading Democratic challenger Hilary Clinton by a 41 per cent to 21 per cent margin among active duty military. 

Trump, however, had major firepower in his rally speech against former Secretary of State Clinton that struck home military personnel – Benghazi.

The current poll also shows Trump’s popularity among American troops have dropped.

Half of respondents, 49.9 per cent, have an unfavorable view of the president compared to the 37.8 per cent who have a favorable view of Trump.

Enlisted military members across all branches have a 12 per cent higher favorability of the president than officers with a margin of 47.1 per cent to 59.1 per cent.

The poll has a 2 per cent margin of error.

A similar poll taken in 2016 showed that Trump was beating then-Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton by a margin of 41 per cent to 21 per cent. But she was widley unpopular among military and veterans due to her involvement as Secretary of State in Benghazi 

Thirteen per cent of respondents said they plan to vote for a third-party candidate in November – while 9 per cent say they are skipping out on the general election altogether.

The 2016 poll, which was conducted in October of that year, showed 34 per cent of troops surveyed planned to vote for a third-party candidate – but exit polls after the election showed only about 5 per cent of military personnel and veterans voted third-party.

Trump’s popularity has depleted with this voting bloc during his time in office especially due to his continual involvement in Department of Defense affairs, including speaking against his own military advisers.

His decision to go against the grain of Pentagon advice even led to then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis ending his tenure with the Trump administration.