Emerson Poll finds Trump ahead of Biden in GOP primary race

December 8, 2023 TruthUSA

Former President Donald Trump has a 4-point lead over incumbent Joe Biden and remains the Republican front-runner for 2024 with 64% support, according to an Emerson College Poll released on Friday.

In a hypothetical presidential matchup, Trump leads Biden 47% to 43%. However, with the introduction of other candidates, Trump’s lead expands to six points as more votes are siphoned off from Biden than Trump:

Trump: 43%

Biden: 37%

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: 7%

Jill Stein: 1%

Cornel West: 1%

Undecided: 12%

The executive director of Emerson polling stated that the survey oversampled voters under 30 to “better understand their changes in attitude toward” Biden.

“In the oversample of voters under 30, 45% support Biden and 40% support Trump in a head-to-head matchup, while 16% are undecided. Within this group, there is a divide between voters under and over 25,” Spencer Kimball said. “Of voters under 25, 48% support Biden and 35% Trump, while voters between 25 and 29 are split: 44% support Trump and 42% support Biden.”

The survey also revealed that Biden’s 41% overall approval rating shows a significant difference with voters aged 18 to 24, where the president has a 35% approval rating. Voters between 25 and 29 have a 41% approval rating of Biden.

In the Republican primary, Trump has a 50-point lead over former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, with 64% to 14%. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is third with 7%, followed by biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 4% each.

In a hypothetical matchup against Haley, Trump leads 76% to 23%.

“As younger Democrats distance themselves from Biden, Trump’s formidable backing within the Republican primary is strongest among younger voters,” Kimball said. “This presents a potential quandary for Biden, who secured a nearly 2-to-1 victory among young voters in the 2020 election.”

The Emerson College Poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from Dec. 4-6. The poll has a margin of error of plus/minus 3 points with a 95% confidence level.