Little enthusiasm for Biden-Trump rematch seen in new poll

Not many voters are looking forward to a potential rematch between President Biden and former President Trump, according to a survey released Sunday, even as both men ready their campaigns for a possible collision course.

More Republicans and Democrats say their parties should nominate someone else for the 2024 race than believe it should be Trump and Biden, according to the ABC-Washington Post poll. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats support the idea of nominating someone other than Biden, and 49 percent of Republicans want their nominee to be a figure other than Trump.

The lack of enthusiasm in both parties for the candidates comes as the foes are preparing for another run for the White House. Biden has said he intends to run but has not officially announced a campaign. He has no Democratic challengers so far. Trump has already launched his 2024 campaign but is expected to face opposition within his own party to capture the nomination.

In a hypothetical rematch, Trump held a 48 percent to 45 percent advantage over Biden, an outcome that is within the new poll’s margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Biden also garnered a 42 percent approval rating in the poll of 1,003 people, his highest mark in the ABC-Washington Post poll since April. 

The dimmed enthusiasm for Biden may raise eyebrows after the midterm elections in which Democrats performed better than expected. Democrats were able to maintain a Senate majority while nearly holding on to the House. But approval for Biden has remained low, as the president has not reached the 50 percent threshold of job approval since June 2021.