President Biden and former President Donald Trump are tied in a new poll looking at a potential matchup in the 2024 election — with Trump surging past Biden among independents as polling also shows Biden’s approval ratings tanking.
If the election were held today, 40 percent of likely voters would punch Biden’s ticket, and 40 percent would pick Trump, while 14 percent said they would choose another candidate, a Grinnell College National Poll released Wednesday found.
Both also registered strong support from their respective political parties — with 80 percent of Republicans backing Trump and 87 percent of Democrats in Biden’s corner.
But among independents, Trump has the edge with 45 percent to 28 percent for Biden.
Another 20 percent of independents said they would vote for “someone else” and 4 percent said they would not cast a ballot.
Neither Biden nor Trump has announced his candidacy for 2024.
The Grinnell survey and a Quinnipiac University National poll also show that Biden’s job approval rating continues to fall.
Thirty-seven percent of American voters give Biden a thumbs down on his job performance while 52 percent approve — down 1 percentage point from Oct. 6, the Quinnipiac poll revealed.
Biden’s favorability rating is also falling.
In May, 49 percent held a favorable view of Biden and 42 percent had an unfavorable opinion of him.
In Tuesday’s Quinnipiac poll, 38 percent said favorable and 50 percent listed unfavorable.
Asked about Trump, 39 percent of Americans said they have a favorable view of him and 52 percent said unfavorable.
The Grinnell poll showed Biden with similar job approval numbers — 50 percent disapprove and 37 percent approve.
His lowest marks come from his handling of immigration (58 percent disapprove and 27 percent approve) and the economy (53 percent disapprove and 36 percent approve).
Only 36 percent of Americans believe the economy will be in better shape in a year — an 11 percentage-point drop from March.
“Right now, the math is simple: A majority of Americans believe the economy will be doing worse in 12 months than it is today, and that pessimism is keeping President Biden’s approval ratings in the basement,” Grinnell poll director Peter Hanson said.
The Grinnell poll surveyed 745 people between Oct. 13 and 17. It has a plus/minus 3.6 percentage-point margin of error.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,342 Americans between Oct. 15 and 18. It has a plus/minus 2.7 percentage-point margin of error.
