WSJ Poll: Donald Trump Leads Biden Head-to-Head and in Third-Party Matchups

trump leads
Brandon Bell/Getty Images, AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Hannah Knudsen

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden head-to-head and when third party candidates are involved, according to the latest Wall Street Journal survey.

The survey asked respondents who they would support in a matchup between Biden and Trump, and it found 47 percent choosing Trump, compared to 43 percent who went with Biden. This reflects a boost for Trump, as the results in August had Biden up by one point, 46 percent to Trump’s 45 percent. In April, Biden led Trump by three points.

Trump maintains his lead over Biden when third party candidates are added to the mix as well, garnering 37 percent support to Biden’s 31 percentage points. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sees eight percent support, followed by three percent for independent candidate Cornel West, two percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and one percent for Libertarian Party candidate Lars Mapstead. In that scenario, 14 percent remain undecided.

Stein is the latest to jump into the presidential ring, making her announcement in November with a platform that includes guaranteeing the “right” to a living-wage job, housing, food, health care, education “and more,” as Breitbart News detailed:

In a video posted to social media, Stein laid out the current state of affairs, contending that “people are tired of being thrown under the bus by wealthy elites and their bought politicians.”

They are “tired of living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay the rent, locked in student debt and medical debt, child poverty doubling, rising diseases of despair, growing hopelessness,” she said declaring that “the political system is broken” and pointing directly to what she described as the “two Wall Street parties” which she said are “bought and paid for.”

In her announcement, she blamed Democrats, accusing them of betraying their promises for “working people, youth, and the climate again and again.” Republicans, she continued, “don’t even make such promises in the first place.” Both parties, she added, are a “danger to our democracy.”

Her decision to run, along with RFK Jr.’s and West’s, have concerned Democrats, who fear the inclusion of these third-party candidates will take voters away from Biden in an election where Democrat voter turnout will be particularly important. Some have already pointed out that the path is reminiscent of 2016, when many Democrats largely blamed Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump on Stein’s presence.

Regardless, poll after poll has continued to show Trump edging out Biden, including in key swing states such as Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Nevada.

The WSJ poll was taken November 29 to December 4, 2023, among 1,500 registered voters.

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