Joe Biden holds a four-point lead over President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, similar to his three-point lead in last month’s national Monmouth University Poll.
If the presidential election was today, Biden has the support of 48% of registered voters and Trump has the support of 44%, according to the university’s new poll released Thursday. Another 5% say they would vote for an independent candidate and 3% are undecided. At the end of last month, the race stood at 48% for Biden and 45% for Trump.
The poll was conducted by telephone April 3-7, 2020, with 857 adults in the U.S., with a plus-minus error of 3.6 percentage points.
Public opinion is mixed on whether Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak will help or hurt him in November, but the president's favorability rating has taken a dip while Biden's has remained stable. The poll, which was conducted before Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign, also finds most voters agreeing that it was time for him to get out of the race.
“The static nature of these results suggests the president’s response to the pandemic is certainly not helping his reelection prospects,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
About 1 in 4 voters (27%) say Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has made it more likely he will win reelection in November, but slightly more (31%) say his response has made it less likely. Another 36% say the president’s handling of the outbreak has made no difference to the likelihood he gets reelected.
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Trump registers a negative 42% favorable to 50% unfavorable opinion. This is worse than his 46% to 49% rating last month and more in line with his 44% to 53% rating in February. Biden currently has a split 41% favorable to 42% unfavorable rating among voters. This result is very similar to his 43% to 43% rating last month and remains better than his 40% to 53% rating in February.
The poll also finds that one-fourth (23%) of American voters are more enthusiastic about voting this year compared to past elections, 17% are less enthusiastic, and 59% feel the same level of enthusiasm as past elections. This is a slight shift from past months when 30% felt more enthusiastic in March and 39% felt more enthusiastic in February.
Credit: AJC
The dip in feeling more enthusiastic has come mainly from Republicans with only 25% feeling more enthusiastic (down from 36% in March and 47% in February). Independents stand at 17% more enthusiastic (from 21% in March and 34% in February) and Democrats stand at 28% (from 35% in March and 36% in February).
At the same time, the poll finds that more than six in 10 American voters are either very (28%) or somewhat (34%) optimistic about the 2020 presidential election.
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