Donald Trump has widened his lead to seven points over President Joe Biden in a hypothetical matchup for the 2024 presidential election, according to a new poll released Friday.
The Harvard CAPS-Harris online poll of 2,004 registered voters taken Wednesday and Thursday had Trump with a 47%-40% edge over Biden, with 13% unsure. If Trump was facing Vice President Kamala Harris, his lead would be 50%-39%, with 11% unsure. Trump’s edge in April over Biden was five points (45%-40%) and 10 points (48%-38%) over Harris.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is soon expected to throw his hat in the ring to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, doesn’t fare as well against Biden or Harris. In a hypothetical matchup, DeSantis and Biden are tied 42%-42%, with 16% unsure, the same figures if DeSantis were facing Harris.
In April DeSantis had a 43%-40% lead over Biden and a 43%-42% edge against Harris.
Biden’s approval rating stood at 42%, down 1% from April. The poll found 60% believe the country is on the wrong track and 62% believe the economy is heading in the wrong direction.
Trump continues to maintain huge leads among his potential GOP primary rivals. Against DeSantis, Trump widened his lead to 30 points, 65%-35%, from 26 points in April. He leads Nikki Haley by 57 points, 78%-21%, Tim Scott by 58 points, 79%-21%, and Mike Pence, his former vice president who has yet to declare his candidacy, by 54 points, 77%-23%.
If the primary election were held today, 58% said they would vote for Trump and 16% would vote for for DeSantis, with Vivek Ramaswamy, Pence and Haley each getting 4%.
Trump has hammered DeSantis on signing a fetal heartbeat bill banning abortions after six weeks. The poll, though, found it has had little effect on DeSantis’ standing, with 35% saying it makes it more likely for them to vote for DeSantis, up from 32% in April, and 46% saying it has no effect. Only 19% said it makes them less likely to vote for him.
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