A recent poll conducted by Decision Desk HQ and News Nation revealed that most voters are not excited about the prospect of a rematch between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
The poll, which surveyed 1,000 registered voters from Jan. 16-18, found that around 59 percent of respondents were “not too enthusiastic” or “not at all enthusiastic” about a Trump-Biden rematch, while only around 41 percent said they were “very enthusiastic” or “somewhat enthusiastic” about it.
The poll also asked voters who they thought would win in a hypothetical 2024 race between Trump and Biden. About 43 percent said the former president would win, while around 33 percent said the incumbent would win. Nearly 7 percent said they think it will be “someone else” who will acquire the presidency, and around 17 percent said they were “not sure” about who would win.
The lack of enthusiasm for a Trump-Biden rematch was evident across different demographic groups, especially among younger voters, who turned out in record numbers in the 2020 election and helped Biden defeat Trump. A separate poll released by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School on Dec. 5 showed that the number of younger Americans aged 18-29 who say they will “definitely” vote in the 2024 election has dropped from 57 percent to 49 percent since fall 2019.
The decline in interest was more pronounced among Republicans and Independents/unaffiliated, whose eagerness to vote has dropped 10 points and 9 points, respectively. The poll also found that more young voters said they may vote for a third-party candidate or just sit out the 2024 election, a potentially worrisome sign for the Democrats.
“It’s clear from this poll that young people aren’t thrilled about facing the same choice in 2024 as they did in 2020,” said Ethan Jasny, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, which publishes the Harvard Youth Poll twice yearly.
The polls suggest that both Trump and Biden may face challenges in mobilizing their base and attracting new voters in the next presidential election, as well as in dealing with the issues that matter most to the American public, such as the economy, health care, and the environment.
