More Americans believe former President Donald Trump will win the 2024 presidential election rather than would pick President Joe Biden, should that matchup officially materialize, the latest survey from the Economist/YouGov found.
The survey asked respondents,” Regardless of who you prefer, who do you think would win the presidential election if Joe Biden were the Democratic candidate and Donald Trump were the Republican candidate?”
While the two are tied with 44 percent each in a head-to-head matchup, more believe Trump would actually emerge as the victor. Forty-five percent said they believe Trump would win, compared to 34 percent who expressed the same confidence in Biden. One in five, 21 percent, remain unsure.
Trump maintains his advantage among registered voters, specifically, as 44 percent believe he would win compared to 37 percent who said the same of Biden. Republicans are more confident that Trump would win than Democrats are confident that Biden would win, with 84 percent confidence and 73 percent confidence, respectively.
Independents are the most confident that Trump would come out on top — 45 percent to Biden’s 21 percent, a difference of 24 points. Notably, independents also side with Trump in a head-to-head matchup, giving Trump an 18-point advantage.
The survey, taken February 11-13, 2024, among 1,671 Americans, comes as more questions surface over what many believe is Biden’s deteriorating mental state. Fuel was added to the mounting concerns following a damning report released by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who found that Biden willfully retained classified material but essentially concluded that he is too mentally feeble to prosecute, providing several examples.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the report reads in part. “Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt.”
It adds, “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
Further, the report also noted that Biden could not remember when he was vice president, nor when his son Beau died.
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Former President Donald Trump responded to these reports during a rally in Conway, South Carolina this month.
“The special counsel’s report tries to let Biden off by claiming that he is too mentally incompetent to convict at a trial,” Trump said.
“I’m not going to charge him with a crime, but it’s okay for him to become Commander in Chief’ – think of that one,” he exclaimed, adding, “But we know that Joe Biden has always been too mentally incompetent.”