Independents are siding with former President Donald Trump over President Biden, the latest NPR/Marist College survey found.
The survey asked respondents who they would support if the 2024 presidential election were held today, choosing between Trump and Biden.
They are virtually tied among all national registered voters, with Biden garnering 47 percent to Trump’s 46 percent. Seven percent remain undecided.
Predictably, most Democrats, 88 percent, support Biden and 90 percent of Republicans support Trump. But Trump also has the edge among independents. Nearly half, 48 percent, of independents support Trump. Biden comes in eight percent behind with 40 percent support among independents. Twelve percent remain unsure.
The poll was taken August 11-14, 2023, among 1,220 adults and has a +/- 3.5 percent margin of error.
Trump’s lead among independents has been consistent with other surveys. For instance, a July Harvard CAPS-Harris poll showed Trump with an 18-point lead among independent Americans.
It is possible — even likely — that Trump’s standing among independents will increase following his fourth indictment at the hands of a grand jury in Georgia. A Rasmussen Reports survey taken prior to his fourth indictment found most Republicans and independents not approving of the third indictment, related to January 6.
As Breitbart News detailed:
Sixty-nine percent of Republicans at least somewhat disapprove of the new indictment, and of those, 61 percent “strongly” disapprove. Independents are also not on board, as 52 percent at least somewhat disapprove of the latest indictment. Of those, 40 percent “strongly” disapprove.
In contrast, 64 percent of Democrats “strongly” approve of the indictment over January 6 — a political agenda long hoped for by President Joe Biden. An April 2022 report from the New York Times detailed Biden’s longing for Attorney General Merrick Garland to take more decisive action. It reported that the president “confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments.”
Trump is expected to hold a “major” press conference on Monday following his fourth indictment, in which he will present what he described as a “Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia.”
“Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others – There will be a complete EXONERATION!” he declared. “They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!”