President Joe Biden's approval rating has reached a new low and former President Donald Trump has taken the lead over the incumbent in the hypothetical 2024 presidential race, according to the latest poll by The Wall Street Journal.
This is the first time Trump has led Biden in the poll as the incumbent's approval rating has reached a new low in the poll at 37% (and a record-high 61% disapproval). Trump has a 4-point edge outside the margin of error (47%-43%) among registered voters in the head-to-head matchup.
The poll also debunks the narratives that third-party and independent candidates might help Biden against Trump. Trump's lead expands to 6 points (37%-31%) when five other candidates are added to the poll.
"If this race is about policy and performance, then Donald Trump has a significant advantage," the poll's Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who also works for a Trump super PAC, told the Journal. "If this race is about temperament and character, things like that, then Biden has an advantage."
Just 23% of registered voters say Biden's policies have helped them personally, while a majority (53%) say they have been directly hurt by them. Those totals are reversed when voters think back to Trump's administration, as around half say Trump policies helped them compared to 37% who said they were hurt.
Also, a majority view "Bidenomics" unfavorably, while less than 30% view it favorably.
Full 2024 presidential election poll test, according to the poll:
- Trump 37%
- Biden 31%
- Independent Robert F. Kennedy 8%
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. 3%
- Independent Cornel West 3%
- Green Party Jill Stein 2%
- Libertarian Lars Mapstead 1%
Trump is dominating the GOP presidential primary field in the poll:
- Trump 59%
- DeSantis 14%
- Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley 15%
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 4%
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 2%
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 0%
- North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum 0%
GOP pollster Fabrizio Lee and Democrat pollster GBAO Strategies conducted The Wall Street Journal poll among 1,500 registered voters from Nov. 29-Dec. 4. The results had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.