CNN Poll: Trump Grows Lead over Biden, GOP Challengers

Brandon Bell, Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Brandon Bell, Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Nick Gilbertson

Former President Donald Trump has expanded his leads over President Joe Biden and the Republican primary field in the latest CNN/SSRS poll. 

The poll, released amid Tuesday night’s election results, shows that Trump holds a four-point advantage over Biden nationally among registered voters in a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head general election matchup.

Trump registers at 49 percent in this latest poll to Biden’s 45 percent. Trump has climbed two points since an August CNN/SSRS poll, while Biden has dropped one point, marking a three-point swing in Trump’s direction. In the latest poll, five percent of voters would back another candidate if their options were Biden and Trump, while one percent would not vote. 

Mixed results continue to emerge from surveys regarding a larger field with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green Party Presidential candidate Cornel West. While Kennedy hurts Trump in some polls, he seems to harm Biden more in this one. Trump’s support drops to 41 percent in a four-man race, while Biden slides to 35 percent. Trump’s lead expands by two points compared to a head-to-head race in this scenario. 

Kennedy comes in third with a substantial 16 percent of the response, followed by the radical progressive West with four percent. Just one percent are undecided, one percent do not plan to vote, and one percent would back someone else in this dynamic. 

The poll also shows that Biden is extremely vulnerable in terms of his approval rating. Just 39 percent give his performance positive marks, while 61 percent disapprove, marking a net -22 rating. Moreover, 28 percent of respondents say “things” are going either “pretty badly” or “very badly” in America versus 28 percent who see “things” as going “fairly well” or “very well.” 

In the Republican primary field, Trump’s support sits at 61 percent, up three points since an October 4-9 CNN/SSRS poll. He is 44 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), at 17 percent, while former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) comes in third with 10 percent. She is up two percent compared to early October. 

From there, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who unveiled his “No to Neocons” pledge for other candidates Tuesday, takes four percent, followed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) at three percent and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) at two percent. All candidates, save Trump, will be at the Republican debate in Miami on Wednesday night. Trump will host a rally as counter-programming where he will receive Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ endorsement. 

Huckabee Sanders’ predecessor, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), did not qualify for the debate but received one percent in this poll. 

The poll sampled 1,271 registered voters, including “608 Republicans or Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote,” from October 27-November 2. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percent for the sample of registered voters and plus or minus 4.8 percent for the GOP primary portion.

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