Enthusiasm for a general election rematch between Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump and President Joe Biden is up 12 points, but 60% of voters remain unexcited about the choices for president, according to a new Monmouth poll released Monday.
The 39% of voters who said they're at least somewhat enthusiastic about Biden-Trump redo is up 12 points since they were last surveyed in December. But while 63% of Republicans are excited for the replay, Democrats (36%) and independents (27%) are not, according to the poll.
"Enthusiasm for a 2020 rematch has increased slightly now that these two candidates are the presumptive nominees. But most voters are not looking forward to November," Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray said in his analysis.
Among the "double-hater" group — those with unfavorable opinions of Trump and Biden — 78% say they are not at all enthusiastic about the rematch. That comprises 17% of those surveyed, and 25% of those are under 35 years of age, according to the poll.
Overall, 44% of those surveyed said they would either definitely or probably vote for Trump, with 43% saying the same for Biden in a head-to-head battle. Meanwhile, 18% said they would definitely or probably vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., down 3 points from December, in a three-way battle. In that scenario, Trump still leads by Biden by 1 point, 38% to 37%.
"Support for Kennedy is not particularly strong even among voters who dislike both Biden and Trump. If he can't score a decisive win with these voters, it's unclear what role he can play in this election other than as a spoiler," said Murray. "The poll results suggest that the Kennedy effect is minimal. If the current situation holds, he would play a spoiler role only in a very close contest. Of course, everything is lining up for this election to be just that."
The Monmouth University Polling Institute surveyed 808 adults from April 18-22. The poll has a margin of error +/- 4.3 percentage points.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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