The race for the White House remains in a statistical tie, even with President Joe Biden gaining one point after his June 27 debate struggles, but a majority believe former President Donald Trump will win, according to a new national NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
The poll shows Biden over Trump by 50% to 48% in a head-to-head contest, but Trump holds a one-point advantage, of 43% to 42% with third-party candidates factored in, NPR reported Friday.
The survey of 1,309 adults was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and carries a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, putting Trump and Biden in a dead heat.
However, almost 60% said they think Trump will win, including 25% of Democrats.
"This is an unpleasant rematch with two unpopular people, but Biden gets points for honesty and character. As a result, there's a lot of canceling out," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
While calls continue for Biden to be replaced on the Democratic Party's ticket, the poll found that there are no other potential replacements who have been mentioned who do better among survey respondents than Biden.
The poll put Vice President Kamala Harris, considered Biden's most likely successor on the ticket, at just one point over Trump at 50% to 49%.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom got 50% to 48% over Trump, the poll said, putting the former president and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at 49% each.
Meanwhile, the majority of voters surveyed also said they view Biden and Trump negatively and believe that neither one should be running for the presidency.
The survey showed that almost two-thirds of the respondents, including almost 4 in 10 Democrats, don't think Biden has the mental fitness to serve as president.
The poll also found, by 68% to 32%, that people are more concerned about having a president who doesn't tell the truth rather than being too old for the office.
Further, 52% said Biden has the character needed to be president, but 56% said Trump does not.
In third-party numbers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulled 8%; Cornel West, running as an independent, netted 3%; and Green Party candidate Jill Stein received 2%.
Biden marked a drop of 13 points among Gen Z and millennial voters when the third-party candidates were included, but that age group also was the least likely to say they would definitely vote.
Trump and Biden were tied at 45% each with people who said they were voting, and Biden showed higher numbers with older voters and white voters with college degrees, the groups that statistically are the most likely to vote.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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