Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup as the general election begins, an Ipsos/Reuters survey shows.
The survey showed Trump leading Biden by six points in a general election matchup — 40 percent to Biden’s 34 percent support. According to Reuters, those results were positive for Trump, as the previous survey released early January showed Trump and Biden tied.
Further, the inclusion of third-party candidates did not affect Trump’s national lead, as he continued to lead Biden by six-points even with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. included. In that scenario, Trump led with 36 percent support, compared to 30 percent for Biden and eight percent for Kennedy.
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The survey was taken among 1,250 U.S. adults and coincides with the recently released Harvard/Harris survey, which similarly showed Trump leading Biden by seven points — 48 percent to Biden’s 41 percent — in a head-to-head matchup. This time, Trump’s lead increased by one point when Kennedy was thrown into the mix, leading with 41 percent to Biden’s 33 percent and Kennedy’s 18 percent.
Trump’s lead grew even greater over Biden when additional third-party candidates — independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein — were added to the mix as well.
As Breitbart News reported:
But when the field is fully expanded to include not only Kennedy, but fellow independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Trump’s lead over Biden expands to double digits, as he leads with 42 percent support to Biden’s 31 percent. Kennedy follows with 15 percent, while West and Stein garner two percent support each.
Trump, again, edges out his competitors among independent voters, gaining a plurality, or 41 percent support, from that specific group.
The surveys follow increasing calls for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to drop out of the race so that the Republican party can unite behind one candidate and devote resources to defeating Biden in November.
Even Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called for Haley to drop out of the race, emphasizing that she does not see a path forward for Haley.
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“I think she ran a great campaign. The message from the voters is clear. We need to unite around our eventual nominee which is going to be Donald Trump. We need to be sure we beat Joe Biden. It’s 10 months away until the November election,” she said.
“Every Republican has to agree that Joe Biden is a threat on our country. If we do not unite and don’t come together to beat him we won’t be successful in 10 months. The Senate and House and White House are at stake. I hope she reflects,” McDaniel said of Haley. “I think Donald Trump will be the nominee.”