Newsweek, March 2024
With the 2024 election still months away, President Joe Biden has a narrow lead over former president Donald Trump in the polls. Biden leads Trump 45 percent to 44 percent as of Tuesday, according to The Economist‘s polling average. While Biden led Trump for much of 2023, the latest result is the first time the president has been ahead of his rival since September. On March 12, Biden and Trump both officially secured the needed number of delegates to be considered their parties’ presumptive nominees, setting up a rematch of the 2020 election.
Biden’s gain in the polls comes despite his approval rating sinking to an all-time low after his State of the Union address earlier in March. At least three polls conducted in March have indicated Biden would beat Trump in November’s election. A national survey by the Democratic super PAC Progress Action Fund, conducted by Public Policy Polling and reported by The Hill, had Biden leading Trump 46 percent to 45 percent. However, the margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, meaning the two candidates were statistically tied. A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 3,356 registered voters conducted between March 7 and 13 found Biden would receive 39 percent of the vote, while Trump would receive 38 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
