Former President Trump outperformed President Biden in a new survey of unlikely voters in a hypothetical 2024 presidential election.
The Suffolk University/USA Today survey, released Wednesday, polled 900 U.S. citizens ages 18 and older — about half of whom were registered to vote. While the poll found respondents preferred Trump over Biden, more voted for either “other” or “undecided.”
When asked for whom they would vote or toward whom they would lean at this time, 15 percent of the unregistered voters said Biden, 27.5 percent said Trump and nearly 28 percent said either “other” (5 percent) or “undecided” (about 23 percent). Another 8 percent chose Green Party candidate Cornel West, and about 7 percent refused to answer the question.
Among the registered respondents, when asked the same question, roughly 13 percent said Biden, 32 percent said Trump and, combined, just over 33 percent said either “other” (7.25 percent) or “undecided” (26 percent). A combined 3.5 percent of the same pool said either West or refused to answer.
Trump and Biden had similar favorable and unfavorable ratings in the survey, though the former president held a slight edge over Biden. Among all 900 respondents, Biden’s favorability was about 23.5 percent, while Trump’s was roughly 27.5 percent. The president’s unfavorability was 52 percent, while the former president’s was 49 percent.
The group of respondents was made of those ages 18-24 years (11 percent), 25-34 years (18 percent), 35-49 years (28 percent), 50-64 years (23 percent), and 65 or more years (20 percent). They were also roughly divided by region, separated by quadrants with 21 percent from the Northeast, 31 percent from the South, 22 percent from the Midwest and 26 percent from the West.
The party affiliations in the group were roughly equal between Democrat (14 percent) and Republican (13 percent), but most said they were independent (29 percent), something else (32 percent), or refused to answer (12 percent).
Among registered voters, about 17.5 percent said they voted for Biden in 2020, 23 percent said they voted for Trump and 54 percent said they did not vote.
The full group was characterized among those who said they were “not at all likely” (66 percent), “not very likely” (20 percent), or “undecided” whether they would vote (14 percent) in the 2024 presidential election.
Nonetheless, when asked whether there was anyone for whom the respondents would be certain to go to the polls to support, just under 8 percent said Trump. Only about 1.5 percent said Biden.
The poll was conducted via telephone Aug 19-27 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.