Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden by 4 points in a potential 2024 presidential matchup, according to McLaughlin and Associates polling published over the weekend.
The poll asked, “Now, if the 2024 Presidential election were held today, which one of the following best describes how you would vote in the general election for President between Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and Joe Biden, the Democrat candidate, for whom would you vote?”
Forty-nine percent selected Trump, while 45 percent chose Biden. Five percent were undecided.
Among those who said they would vote for Trump, 36 percent said they “definitely” would vote for the former president. Thirty-six percent said the same about Biden.
President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
While Biden has stated he is running in 2024 because he reportedly believes he is the only Democrat who can defeat a potential Trump bid, Trump has not yet announced he is running. The poll shows Trump has a 30 point lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a potential GOP Republican primary. Nine percent were undecided.
Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses attendees during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, Friday, July 22, 2022, in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
On the Democrat side, Biden only holds a ten point lead over former first lady Michelle Obama (23-13 percent). The poll shows that Democrats are not sold on Biden’s candidacy.
Sixty-seven percent of American voters believe the nation is on the wrong track. Under Biden’s leadership, the nation has endured 40-year-high inflation, record high gas prices, the deadly Afghan withdrawal, an invasion on the southern border, and more deaths from the coronavirus than under Trump.
The McLaughlin and Associates poll sampled 1,000 voters from August 20-24. No margin of error was provided.
The poll is not the only one that has shown Trump to be leading Biden in a potential 2020 matchup. Multiple polls have shown Biden behind Trump in a potential head-to-head contest.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
