Former President Donald Trump has opened his biggest lead ever captured in the CNN poll of the American electorate, enjoying a six-point advantage over incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden.
Trump, at 49 percent, is six percent ahead of Biden’s 43 percent when the two are polled head-to-head.
When third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Jill Stein, and Cornel West are added into the field, Trump’s lead over Biden grows to nearly double digits. In that multi-candidate scenario, Trump is at 42 percent, Biden is down at 33 percent, Kennedy is at 16 percent, West at four percent, and Stein at three percent.
That’s a nine percent lead for Trump nationally, an astounding number that if true would signal the former president is on track for an electoral college romp of Biden.
🇺🇲 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 poll was conducted from April 18 to April 23, and surveyed 1,212 American adults, including 967 registered voters, and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent for the full sample and 3.8 percent among registered voters. The numbers for the presidential race are from the registered voters sample.
CNN, in its story about the poll, found most Americans look back on Trump’s presidency positively—and look at Biden’s presidency negatively. CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta 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 wrote. “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.”
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Biden’s approval ratings on key issues like the economy and inflation, 34 percent and 29 percent respectively, is abysmal and seems to be working against him harshly. “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,” Agiesta wrote. “Those voters who say the economy is deeply important break heavily for Trump in a matchup against Biden, 62% to 30%.”
The poll’s release comes two weeks into Trump’s trial in New York City at the hands of Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and right after Biden roasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening.
While Trump is mostly stuck in a New York City courtroom, the campaign continues and Trump has sought to take advantage of having to be in New York by meeting with union workers and doing things like visiting a bodega whose owner was famously attacked. Biden, meanwhile, has expended most of his efforts on trying to shift the national conversation off the economy, immigration, and national security to abortion, visiting Florida in recent weeks to highlight a forthcoming Sunshine State ballot initiative on the matter.
