Biden Vs. Trump: New Poll Reveals Slim Lead For One Candidate, But This Statistic Will Likely Leave Both Camps Worried

Former President Donald Trump maintained his slender lead over the incumbent, Joe Biden, in a hypothetical two-way matchup, the results of a new poll published on Monday showed. The relative outperformance comes despite the legal headwinds Trump is left to contend with.

Trump Over Biden? When asked to pick between Trump and Biden for the presidency, 48% chose Trump compared to 42% for Biden, the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll of registered voters, conducted online nationally between Feb. 21-22, showed. Nine percent of the respondents said they were undecided.

The position hasn’t changed much from the January survey, when Trump and Biden boasted of 48% and 41% support, respectively.

Interestingly, the percentage of Republicans supporting Trump (90%) was more than the percentage of Democrats supporting Biden (82%). Trump also held the edge as far as independent voters were concerned. Forty-two percent preferred Trump, 39% chose Biden and 19% said they were unsure.

See Also: Why Biden’s Unpopularity With Arab Democrats Could Show In Michigan Primary Results

3-Way Race – No Problem For Trump: When independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was included in the ballot, along with Trump and Biden, for the 2024 presidential election, Trump led with 42% support, while 35% and 15% of the registered voters, respectively chose Biden and Kennedy. Eight percent said they were undecided.

Kennedy is apparently taking away the bulk of votes from Biden rather than Trump.

A five-way race did not alter the equation much, with the verdict as follows:

• Trump: 42%
• Biden: 33%
• Kennedy: 13%
• Cornel West: 2%
• Jill Stein: 1%
• Undecided: 8%

Trump’s lead over Biden ranges between six points to nine points, depending on the number of the candidates in the fray.

Quest For Fresh Face: About two-thirds of the registered voters said the country needed another choice other than Biden and Trump, with the majority from each of the major parties expressing similar opinions. The margin was 62% to 38% in favor of a new candidate.

If Biden was the Democratic nominee and Trump was the Republic nominee, a majority of respondents wanted an independent moderate candidate for the presidency.

When Democrats were asked if Biden would be the Democratic nominee or drop out of the race, 67% said the president would be the party’s nominee as opposed to 33% who said he would drop out. If he were drop out, most voters threw their weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris (17%) followed by Hillary Clinton (10%).

As far as the Republican primary is concerned, 78% of GOP voters sided with Trump, a six percentage-point improvement from January. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who lost in the state’s primaries recently, was favored by 14% of the respondents.

Voters were concerned about Biden’s fitness to be the president, with 59% saying they have doubts regarding his mental fitness to serve as president.

The view assumes importance because Special Counsel Robert Hur probed Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents and expressed concerns about the president's mental health and memory in a Feb. 5 report.

Biden’s border policy was mentioned as his biggest failure by a plurality of respondents, while lowered prescription costs was mentioned as his biggest accomplishment.

This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via MidJourney.

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