Over the past several months, most polls have consistently shown former President Donald Trump earning a slight lead over incumbent Joe Biden. Now, a new CNN/SSRS poll published on Sunday is showing Trump with a much wider lead over Biden. In a head-to-head contest, Trump would garner 49% of the vote and Biden only 43% — a six-point lead for Trump — with 4% of respondents voting for “someone else,” 3% not voting, and only 1% with no opinion on who to vote for.
When third-party candidates are added to the field, Trump’s lead over Biden expands to nine points: Trump would gain 42% of the vote, Biden 33%, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 16%, Cornel West 4%, and Jill Stein 3%, with a total of 3% responding “other,” “do not plan to vote,” or “no opinion.”
Additionally, of those polled, 52% said that there was “no chance” of their voting for Biden, up one point from October, compared to 47% who said that there was “no chance” of their voting for Trump, down one point from October. When asked to evaluate Trump’s presidency, 55% of respondents declared it a “success” and 44% declared it a “failure.” When asked that same question in January 2021, only 41% of respondents called Trump’s term in office a “success,” while 55% declared it a “failure.” By contrast, only 39% of voters said they consider Biden’s presidency to have been a “success,” while 61% called it a “failure.” Even in January 2022, one year in, only 41% considered the Biden presidency a “success,” compared to 57% who considered it a “failure.”
As in other polls, the economy has been rated the top issue for voters, with a net total of 92% declaring the issue “important,” including 65% who called it “extremely important.” Voters who rate the economy as their top issue break heavily for Trump over Biden, 62% to 30%. About 30% of voters polled rated the economy’s present state either “very good” (5%) or “somewhat good” (24%), while a total of 70% of voters said the economy was “somewhat poor” (36%) or “very poor” (34%). When asked what changes would improve the economy, 41% of voters responded “a change in political leadership in Washington,” 37% said “a lower rate of inflation,” 14% said a “positive change” in their personal financial situations, 3% said “a sustained rise in the stock market,” and 5% said “something else.”
As those answers indicate, voters are displeased with Biden’s management of the American economy. Sixty-six percent of voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy and 71% disapprove of his handling of inflation. Overall, the poll awarded Biden a 40% approval rating. When broken down, only 12% said that they “strongly” approve of Biden’s job performance, 28% said they only “moderately” approve, 20% said they disapprove “moderately,” and a staggering 40% said that they “strongly” disapprove of Biden’s job performance.
Although the economy takes precedence for voters, immigration also makes a strong showing, with a total of 76% of voters rating it an “important” issue, although only 48% consider it to be “extremely” important. Crime follows close behind, with almost identical numbers. A recent Axios/Harris survey found that immigration has become such an important issue for Americans that over half (51%) now endorse the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Additionally, 56% of voters see illegal immigration as linked to increasing violence and crime rates in the U.S. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll also found that almost 70% of Americans believe illegal immigration is linked to rising crime rates.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
