A Reuters/Ipsos poll has revealed that Donald Trump leads Democratic President Joe Biden by six percentage points, indicating that Americans are unhappy about an election rematch that has gained more attention this week. The nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults showed Trump leading Biden 40% to 34%, with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one. This represents a gain for Trump after a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month showed him and Biden tied.
As Trump handily beat his sole remaining primary challenger, Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, some 67% of respondents polled Monday through Wednesday said they were “tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.” Still, just 18% said they would not vote if Biden and Trump were their choice.
The two candidates themselves seem ready for a rematch following Trump’s back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, with the White House considering Trump as a beatable challenger. Trump’s six-point lead held even when respondents were given the option of voting for third-party candidates, including anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Trump drawing 36% support, Biden 30%, and Kennedy 8%.
Slightly more than half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the U.S. two-party system, with just one in four satisfied by it. Whitney Tallarico, 33, a consultant interviewed in Washington, is among those considering an alternative.
The poll gave numerous signs that voters are not happy with their choices. Seventy percent of respondents agreed with a statement that Biden should not seek re-election, while fifty-six percent of people responding to the poll said Trump should not run, including about a third of Republicans. Biden has been weighed down by the widespread view that at 81, already the oldest person ever to be U.S. president, he is too old for the job.
Haley, 52, is trying to marshal dissatisfaction to turn around her well-financed but flagging campaign. “Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump,” she said on Tuesday after her loss to Trump in New Hampshire.
Trump has a towering nationwide lead over Haley – 64% to 19% – as they prepare for the Feb. 24 Republican nomination contest in South Carolina. Turnout could still be high in the November general election in part because voters from both parties are highly motivated to beat the other side.
