Poll Shows Trump In Lead For 2024 Election, Sparks Concern In Democratic Circles

Last updated on December 11th, 2023 at 08:09 am

Less than a year before the 2024 presidential election, a Wall Street Journal poll shows US President Joe Biden with the lowest approval rating of his presidency, a finding broadly in line with other recent studies that have got innumerable Democrats concerned.

It shows former President Donald Trump leading Biden by four points, 47% to 43%. When five potential third-party and independent candidates are included, drawing a combined 17% support, Trump’s lead expands to six points, 37-31.

Biden brands Trump As “Despicable”

Biden has expressed his desire to run for the upcoming election. But many in the Democratic party would like to see him stand down, fearing his age will turn off voters. Moreover, the indictment of his son on Thursday on nine criminal tax charges places more obstacles.

Biden would be 81 on election day. Trump is leading the race for the Republican nomination. But the candidate who will himself be 78 on polling day remains in peril from concurrent criminal cases against him, some over his illegal efforts to overturn Biden’s victory.

At an event in California on Friday night, Biden branded his predecessor as “despicable”, in relation to Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol riot by his supporters trying to prevent Congress certifying the election result.

Understanding The “Mad Poll Disease”

“It’s simply despicable,” the president told an audience including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California governor Gavin Newsom, referring to how Trump watched the unfolding disturbance on television and did nothing to stop it.

The survey will alarm Democrats. But others ask not to read too much into what some observers see as “mad poll disease”, anxiety induced by a belief that a succession of negative polls shows what will happen a year from now instead of providing a chance to prevent it.