Former President Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to launch a comeback White House bid in 2024.
Though deeply unpopular overall, Trump remains one of the most influential and powerful conservative figures in the United States.
President Joe Biden beat Trump in the 2020 election and has maintained a relatively stable approval rating ​since assuming office.
However, the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan has had an impact on Biden’s popularity.
Would Biden beat Trump in 2024? A new poll suggests that he would not.
Joe Biden Approval Rating
In the latest Emerson College poll, 46 percent of respondents said they approve of the job Biden is doing as commander-in-chief, while 47 percent said they disapprove.
In February, for example, 49 percent approved and 39 percent disapproved of Biden’s performance in office, which suggests that the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan has had an impact on the president’s popularity.
Still, a plurality of respondents in the poll said former President George W. Bush holds the most responsibility for America’s failure to win the Afghan war.
2024 GOP Primary
Reports suggest that several prominent Republican governors and lawmakers are considering running for president in 2024, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Vice President Mike Pence, per Politico.
If Trump ran in 2024, 67 percent of Republican voters would support him, the poll found.
If the former commander-in-chief, who is 75 years old, for some reason didn’t run for president, DeSantis would most likely win the nomination. Pence would come in second, while Cruz would come in third, according to the survey.
Trump Vs. Biden
Sixty percent of Democrats in the poll said they would like to see Biden as their party’s nominee in 2024, while 39 percent said they would rather see somebody else in that role.
What if we see a reprise of the 2020 election in four years, with Trump and Biden competing against each other?
According to the poll, Trump would be favored to win. Forty-seven percent of respondents in Emerson’s survey said they would vote for Trump, while 46 percent said they would back Biden.
Romney As GOP Nominee
What if Utah Sen. Mitt Romney won the Republican nomination? The poll found that 42 percent would vote for Biden, 23 percent would vote for Romney, and 29 percent would vote for someone else.
"Historically, this data reminds me of 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt failed to win the Republican nomination from then President Taft and created a third party dooming the Republican chances against Woodrow Wilson," Director of Emerson College Polling Spencer Kimball said.
"This data suggests that Republicans want either Trump or a Trumpian candidate to be their nominee, or half of them may split from the party," he added.
