Economist Poll: Trump Leads; Biden Reelection 'Bid Is in Trouble'

While the respondents in the latest poll by The Economist say they would prefer to vote for the Democratic Party presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump still leads President Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup for 2024.

Trump topped Biden 44%-43% in the latest poll conducted by YouGov and released Wednesday. Trump gets majority support among whites (51%), those 65 years old and older (52%), and rural Americans (57%).

"The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination is under indictment for 91 felonies in four criminal cases, and he probably is, as one of his primary opponents remarked during the recent Republican debate, the most disliked politician in America," The Economist wrote in analysis headlined "Joe Biden's reelection bid is in trouble."

"Democrats have reason to be smug at the prospect of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee — unless they take a hard look at the vulnerabilities of their own standard-bearer."

Notably, 63% of American citizens do not want Biden to run again, including 67% of independents and 39% of Democrats, numbers that are not as bad for Trump (by 6 points for all U.S. adults and 12 points among independents).

Biden gets tepid trust in the area of "weakness" as a combined 65% see him as least somewhat weak (24%). There were 41% who see Biden as "very weak." A majority says Trump is at least somewhat strong (565%), including 32% saying he is "very strong" — a number that is just 11% for Biden.

Also, a majority of American adults (55%) does not believe Biden cares about them (17% not much and 38% "doesn't care at all.")

Trump remains a runaway favorite to be the Republican presidential nominee, and leads Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and the field by 37 points or more:

1. Trump 51%
2. DeSantis 14%
3. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy 5%
4. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley 4%
5. Former Vice President Mike Pence 3%
6. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., 2%
7. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 2%

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, conservative broadcaster Larry Elder, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez all received 0% support.

There were 11% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents still undecided, as well as 1% saying they would vote for someone else than those listed above.

The Economist/YouGov polled 1,500 U.S. adult citizens Aug. 26-29 (1,303 registered voters). The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

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