Blow to Biden as poll shows Trump in lead for 2024 presidential election
With Trump leading 47% to 43%, some Democrats feel worried while others avoiding "mad poll disease."
One day after the US president called his predecessor "despicable" at an event in California, Donald Trump has surpassed Joe Biden in national polls for the 2024 presidential race, according to a survey released on Saturday.
Less than a year before voters head to the polls, the Wall Street Journal poll finds that Biden has the lowest approval rating of his presidency. This finding is largely consistent with other recent studies that have raised concerns in Democratic circles.
It is the first time this poll indicates that the former US president is preferred in a head-to-head test of the anticipated 2024 White House contest, with Trump leading Biden by four points, 47% to 43%, according to the WSJ.
The chart is HERE
With five possible independent and third-party candidates receiving a combined 17% of the vote, Trump's lead increases to six points, 37–31.
Many in the Democratic party would prefer to see Biden step down, despite his expressed desire to seek a second term. They believe his advanced age—81 on election day and 86 after eight years in the White House if he wins next year—will turn off voters.
Hunter Biden, the president's son, was indicted on nine criminal tax charges in California on Thursday, which puts more barriers in his way if he wants to run for office again.
In the meantime, Trump is by no means a lock for the Republican nomination, despite leading the field by almost 50 points, according to RealClearPolitics, in large part due to his own multiple legal issues. The candidate, who will turn 78 on election day, is still under threat from four ongoing criminal cases, some of which stem from his unlawful attempts to thwart Biden's 2020 victory.
Friday night, at a fundraiser, Biden chastised Trump for his actions on January 6, 2021, the day his supporters organized a riot in the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the election results.
It's disgusting. Referring to how Trump stood by and did nothing to stop the riot that was unfolding on television, Biden told an audience that included Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Governor Gavin Newsom. "It's just disgusting," Biden said.
He additionally brings up Trump's challenging when this week's interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity about whether or not he would misuse his office of the power if elected again. He declared the other day that he would only rule as a dictator once. God, it's just one day! Rather than fighting political violence, he embraces it, said Biden.
Chart is HERE
His speech avoided discussing the Israel-Gaza disagree and centered mostly on the threat he believed Trump posed to democracy. "You're the reason Donald Trump is a former president, or, as he detests to hear me say, a defeated president," he said to the collecting of Democratic party supporters. It's likely that he won't attend my upcoming inauguration.
While many Democrats will be nervous by the WSJ survey, others warn with doing too much into what some observers refer to as "mad poll disease," which is anxiety brought on by a sense that a string of adverse polls predicts what will happen a year from now compared to providing people a chance to take action or cast a vote to stop it.
Similarly, the New York Times notices that even though its data shows a large number of Democrats are currently unhappy with Biden, they may still support him come election day, especially if Donald Trump is the Republican candidate.