In a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head rematch, former president Donald Trump now beats President Joe Biden for the first time in the Wall Street Journal’s national polling this election cycle.
With just their names on the ballot, Trump leads Biden by a four-point margin at 47–43 percent, according to the new Journal poll published Saturday, and that lead extends to six points at 37–31 percent when five potential third-party candidates are included in the survey. Among them, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stands at 8 percent, which is about half of the five candidates’ combined support.
While Trump is widening his lead ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the incumbent president’s approval ratings continue dropping the closer voters get to casting their ballots next November. According to the latest poll, 37 percent of respondents approve of Biden’s job performance and 61 percent disapprove, marking a new low in his presidency.
The survey also finds Biden’s policies, including “Bidenomics,” aren’t a winning strategy for his reelection campaign, as 53 percent say they’ve been hurt by his policies while only 23 percent say the opposite. In contrast, Trump’s policies generally gained more favor, with 49 percent saying his administration helped them while 37 percent disagreed.
Trump is the currently the frontrunner in the Republican race by a wide margin. Yet a set of hypothetical one-on-ones in the poll shows that South Carolina governor Nikki Haley beats Biden by a much wider margin than would the former president or Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Haley has a 17-point lead at 51–34 percent, while DeSantis ties with Biden 45–45 percent.
A Thursday poll, also released by the Journal, showed Haley’s recent rise in the race for the GOP nomination is due to her four strong debate performances — a factor her press secretary can attest to.
“This latest poll shows why everyone was attacking Nikki Haley at the last debate,” Haley spokesperson Ken Farnaso told National Review. “She has surged into second place and this is now a two person race — between one man and one woman. Nikki is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and voters are flocking to her message of a strong and proud America.”
As the GOP presidential primaries begin next month, it remains to be seen whether Haley will outperform Trump among Republican voters.
The Saturday Journal poll, which has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, surveyed 1,500 respondents across the U.S. from November 29 to December 4.