More U.S. adult citizens believe former President Donald Trump will win the presidential election than President Joe Biden, a May survey from the Economist/YouGov found.
The survey asked respondents to reveal who they believe will win the election in November, regardless of their personal preference.
While Trump leads Biden by a single percentage point in a voter intent matchup including third-party candidates, Trump has an eight-point edge when voters were asked who they believe will win, regardless of their personal choice.
Forty-two percent believe Trump will win, compared to 34 percent who say Biden and 24 percent who remain unsure.
Republicans are more confident that Trump will win than Democrats are that Biden will win — 81 percent to 73 percent — but the margin is massive among independents. Forty-two percent of independents believe Trump will win, compared to 19 percent who believe Biden will win — a difference of 23 points. Another 39 percent of independents remain unsure.
The survey also found that most Biden voters, 51 percent, admit that they are mostly voting “AGAINST Donald Trump,” compared to 48 percent who are openly voting “FOR Joe Biden.”
Conversely, the overwhelming majority of Trump voters, 75 percent, are mostly voting “FOR Donald Trump,” while just 23 percent are voting “AGAINST Joe Biden.” Another two percent remain unsure.
The survey comes as the Trump campaign challenges Biden to one debate per month, pitching one each in June, July, August, and September.
“But we believe there should be more than just two opportunities for the American people to hear more from the candidates themselves,” a memo from the Trump campaign reads:
With the soaring inflation of Bidenomics costing America’s hardworking families at the grocery store and at the gas pump, with our border being totally overrun, with chaos at home, chaos across the world, chaos on our college campuses, we should have one debate per month.
“Therefore, we propose a debate in June, a debate in July, a debate in August, and a debate in September, in addition to the Vice Presidential debate,” it adds.
The Biden campaign has since made it clear that it intends to debate twice, disregarding the Commission on Presidential Debates’ announced debates. One of the reasons for that decision includes the fact that the Biden campaign does not want Biden to face a live audience.