According to a recent Politico poll, more Independent voters are opposed to President Biden running in 2024 than former President Trump.
Biden lags behind Trump after less than one year in office in the increasingly-important moderate and independent sections of the electorate.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll showed that an alarming majority of independent voters (67%) say they hope President Biden does not run for President again.
This number includes a majority (50%) saying, “no, definitely not.”
Additionally, most ideological moderates say they don’t want the President to run again (52%), including 37% saying, “no, definitely not.” A majority of all registered voters, numbering 58%, say they do not want Biden to run again, with 43% saying, “no, definitely not.”
In comparison, former President Trump’s numbers are more favorable than Biden’s with Independent and Moderate demographics. A full 70% of Republicans believe that Trump should run again, a number that tops Biden’s among Democrats by 7 points (63%).
According to the poll, if the President does step aside, Vice President Kamala Harris leads the field of replacement candidates. She leads the pack with 31%, followed by Pete Buttigieg with 11%, and Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both with 8%. Six other candidates fare worse in the poll.
The poll queried 1,998 registered voters mid-month, and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2% points.
Independents don’t want Trump or Biden
According to the poll, most independent voters don’t think former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden will run for the White House in 2024.
Independents, a key demographic in the 2020 presidential race, oppose Biden seeking another term than those opposed to former President Trump doing the same.
Independent voters were crucial for Biden’s electoral win as the voting block cast their votes for him by more than a dozen points. In contrast, former President Trump won the demographic by four points when he ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Biden’s support from Independents has declined rapidly in recent months as rising inflation, supply chain problems, and the chaotic, failed military withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to affect Americans and chip away at support for the President and his administration.
According to the poll, approximately one-third, 37 percent, of independents approve of the job Biden is doing, while 59% disapprove. However, most Independents surveyed had an unfavorable view of both Trump and Biden.
