Former President Donald Trump has built his largest lead ever measured in a CNN survey of the American people, with a six-point edge over current Democratic President Joe Biden.
When polled head-to-head, Trump leads Biden by six percentage points, from 49 percent to 43 percent. When third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Jill Stein, and Cornel West enter the race, Trump’s lead over Biden climbs to nearly double digits. In that multi-candidate scenario, Trump has 42% support, Biden has 33%, Kennedy has 16%, West has 4%, and Stein has 3%.
That’s a nine percent national advantage for Trump, an astonishing number that, if true, would put the former president on track to defeat Biden in the electoral college.
🇺🇲 NATIONAL POLL: @CNN/SSRS
🟥 Trump 49% (+6)
🟦 Biden 43%Trump’s lead is largest in CNN poll’s history
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🟥 Trump 42% (+9)
🟦 Biden 33%
🟨 RFK Jr 16%
🟨 West 4%
🟩 Stein 3%
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SSRS: #78 (2.0.3.0) | RVs | 4/18-23 https://t.co/IOCVkkXhK6 pic.twitter.com/VSaY9kdjug— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) April 28, 2024
The CNN/SSRS survey was done from April 18 to April 23 and asked 1,212 American adults, 967 of whom were registered to vote.
The margin of error for the entire sample is 3.4 percent, and 3.8 percent among registered voters. The presidential race numbers are from a survey of registered voters.
According to CNN, the majority of Americans favor Trump’s presidency and dislike Biden’s. Jennifer Agiesta, a reporter for CNN, wrote that “in the coming rematch, opinions about the first term of each man vying for a second four years in the White House now appear to work in Trump’s favor, with most Americans saying that, looking back, Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure.”
“Looking back, 55% of all Americans now say they see Trump’s presidency as a success, while 44% see it as a failure. In a January 2021 poll taken just before Trump left office and days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, 55% considered his time as president a failure,” Agiesta stated. “Assessing Biden’s time in office so far, 61% say his presidency thus far has been a failure, while 39% say it’s been a success. That’s narrowly worse than the 57% who called the first year of his administration a failure in January 2022, with 41% calling it a success.”
Biden’s approval ratings on critical topics such as the economy and inflation are awful (34 percent and 29 percent, respectively), and appear to be working against him badly. “In the new poll, 65% of registered voters call the economy extremely important to their vote for president, compared with 40% who felt that way in early 2020 and 46% who said the same at roughly this point in 2016,” he said. “Those voters who say the economy is deeply important break heavily for Trump in a matchup against Biden, 62% to 30%.”
The poll was released two weeks into Trump’s trial in New York City by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and just after Biden lambasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening.
While Trump is primarily stuck in a New York City courtroom, the campaign continues, and he has tried to make the most of his time in New York by meeting with union workers and visiting a bodega whose owner was memorably attacked. Meanwhile, Biden has focused the majority of his efforts on shifting the national discourse away from the economy, immigration, and national security and toward abortion, visiting Florida in recent weeks to emphasize a forthcoming Sunshine State ballot issue on the subject.
