Abki Baar, Trump Sarkar? Fewer Indian Americans Support Joe Biden in This Election Cycle Compared to 2020

Support for President Joe Biden among Indian Americans has dropped by 19 percentage points between 2020 and 2024, the Asian American Voter Survey has revealed. Forty-six percent of Indian Americans intend to vote for Biden this year as against 65% in 2020, while 30 percent said they’d choose Trump compared to 28 percent in 2020. The sharp decline in Indian American voters’ support for Biden might be crucial, given that the community has a sizable presence in many battleground states. 

If the elections were held today, 46 percent of Indian Americans would vote for Biden; 29 percent would vote for Trump; 5 percent would vote for someone else; and 20 percent said they didn’t know or refused to reveal their candidate of choice. Twenty-four percent of Indian Americans view Biden as very favorable; 31 percent favorable; 24 percent somewhat favorable; and 18 percent very unfavorable. When it came to Trump, 16 percent of Indian Americans found him favorable and 19 percent said he was somewhat favorable, while 21 percent found him somewhat unfavorable and 42 percent thought that he was very unfavorable. 

Meanwhile, 91 percent of Indian Americans said they intend to vote in November, despite 42 percent not having been contacted by either the Democratic or Republican parties or candidates. 

Among Asian Americans, 46 percent intended to vote for Biden, compared to 54 percent in 2000; while 31 percent said they’ll vote for Trump compared to 30 percent in 2020. In the favorability index, 19 percent favored Biden; 32 percent somewhat favorable; 21 percent somewhat unfavorable; and 23 percent very unfavorable. On the other hand, 15 percent of Asian Americans found Trump favorable; 19 percent said he’s somewhat favorable and somewhat unfavorable; while 43 percent from the group said they found him unfavorable. 

The survey of 2,479 Asian American voters registered voters was conducted by APIAVote, AAPI Data, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and AARP, — before the June 27 presidential debate between Biden and Trump. Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data, one of the groups that conducted the survey, told Axios that “even before the June presidential debate, President Biden had lost confidence among many Asian American voters.”

Asian Americans have been a rapidly growing group of eligible voters in the U.S. over the past two decades, growing by 15% in the last four years alone and turning out in record numbers in every federal election since 2016, according to Pew Research. In 2020, a surge in Asian American voters — especially those voting for the very first time – in battleground states was crucial to Biden’s victory. 

In a press release issued on July 1o along with the survey, Ramakrishnan noted that 

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“Asian Americans are rapidly diversifying the American electorate, and it is critical for us to update our understanding of what motivates them and informs their voting choices. We see ongoing evidence of dynamism within the Asian American electorate, including on matters pertaining to presidential vote choice and party preferences on key issues ranging from inflation to health care and immigration.”

Some of the most important issues for Asian American voters include jobs and the economy (86% say “extremely” or “very” important), inflation (85%), healthcare (85%), crime (80%), education (80%), Social Security and Medicare (79%), cost of housing (78%), national security (77%), gun control (73%), and immigration (71%). Over two-thirds of Asian American voters reported worrying about hate crimes, harassment, and discrimination “sometimes” (38%), “somewhat often” (17%), or “very often” (13%).

Asian American voters believe that the Democratic Party is doing a better job on issues of abortion and reproductive rights, racism, and gun control as compared to the Republican Party. Conversely, they believe the Republican Party is doing a better job on issues of national security (36% vs. 28%), immigration (35% vs. 33%), inflation (33% vs. 28%), and crime (31% vs. 28%). When asked what issues would be enough to get them to the polls in November, regardless of how they feel about any particular candidate, Asian American voters indicated the following issues: jobs and the economy (84%), inflation (82%), healthcare (81%), Social Security and Medicare (76%), crime (74%), the cost of housing (72%), gun control (72%), national security (72%), immigration (71%), and education (71%).