Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
A hypothetical matchup between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden would favor the former, according to findings of a new poll. Voter sentiment, however, suggests most prefer a change of the old guard.
Biden Vs. Trump: Among 4,003 registered voters, Trump led Biden by 46% to 42% in a Messenger/Harris online poll conducted by HarrisX during the period of Nov. 22-28. The remaining 13% were undecided regarding their choice.
The result was in contrast to the findings from Morning Consult’s recent weekly survey, which put Biden ahead of Trump with a slender margin of one percentage point.
HarrisX survey found that support for Biden and Trump were along party lines. The latter, however, held the edge with independent voters, with 40% favoring him as opposed to 34% who backed Biden. About 25% of independents said they were undecided.
In a four-way race including independent candidates Robert Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West on the ballot, Trump’s lead over Biden widened. The former president received 41% of the voters compared to 33% for Biden, 13% for Kennedy and 2% for West.
Biden’s performance in the opinion poll is reflective of the poor net approval rating he has received as president. Fifty-seven percent disapprove of him compared to thirty-eight percent who approve of his job.
This week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its second-quarter GDP report, which showed that the economy grew at a robust annualized quarter-over-quarter rate of 5.2%. Biden touted the data in a recent post via his @POTUS handle on X.
Inflation was 0% last month – and our economy grew by more than 5% last quarter.Bidenomics.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 2, 2023
The president’s foreign policy has also come under criticism from some quarters.
Trump-Biden Rematch In The Cards: In their respective primaries, Biden and Trump are likely to emerge victorious, according to the HarrisX poll. Trump received the backing of 36% of voters and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was a distant second with 9% of the support.
Among Democrats, Biden is in the lead as he was favored by 32% of the respondents. About 6% said they would vote for Marianne Williamson. A big chunk of 29% said they would prefer to vote for someone else other than those in the fray. Another 29% said they were unsure.
When asked whether they wanted Biden or Trump to rerun, however, about 33% said they wanted Biden to run for office for a second term while 67% didn’t want a second term for him.
Trump fared relatively better in this regard, with 55% not wanting him to contest, while 45% preferred a second term for him.
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