Former President Donald Trump is up 10 points over President Joe Biden among independent voters, according to a new poll from The Economist/YouGov.
When asked who they would support in a presidential rematch between Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and Biden, the Democrat incumbent, 44% of those surveyed say they would vote for Trump, versus 42% who say they would vote for Biden. The two men were tied at 44% each earlier in March.
While Trump is at 89% support among Republicans, Biden is backed by 89% of Democrats, making independents the demographic to watch, the poll found.
Among independent voters, Trump leads Biden, 40% to 30%, with another 13% saying they would support "other." Five percent are unsure and 11% say they will not vote.
Of those respondents who would prefer to vote for someone other than Trump or Biden, 34% say their choice would be independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while 3% say Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and 1% say independent candidate Cornel West. Nearly half, or 49%, say they’re unsure and 14% say they would support someone else.
Predictably, 90% of Republicans and 15% of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s job performance, but a staggering 63% of independents say they disapprove of the president’s job performance. Just 23% of independents approve of the job Biden is doing as president.
The survey follows Biden's State of the Union address, which saw large majorities of Americans say in multiple polls that the president’s speech served to divide the country even further. The occasion did little to accomplish the reset the Biden campaign had hoped for, as the 81-year-old Democrat seeks a second term in the White House.
Biden is reportedly feeling anxious and angry about recent polling showing a drop in support in key battleground states for his reelection bid.
During a private meeting at the White House in January, Biden shouted and swore after being told that his poll numbers in Michigan and Georgia had plummeted over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, NBC News reported, citing a lawmaker familiar with the matter.
The Economist/YouGov poll was conducted March 10-12 and surveyed 1,559 American adult citizens. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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