Trump would defeat Biden in presidential rematch: poll

A new poll finds that former President Donald Trump would beat President Joe Biden in a presidential rematch.

According to a national poll of 1,200 registered voters, Trump would edge out Biden. In a 2024 hypothetical election survey taken between Aug. 30 and Sept. 1, there were 47% of American voters who favored Trump, compared to 46% for Biden in the proposed rematch, the Emerson College poll stated.

The poll found that other top 2024 GOP presidential contenders would fare far worse than Trump. In a hypothetical match-up between Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the current president received 48% of the vote versus 36% for the Republican governor. According to the poll, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) would get crushed by Biden in the proposed contest, garnering only 23%, while Biden would receive 42%.

"Historically, the data reminds me of 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt failed to win the Republican nomination from then President Taft and created a third party dooming the Republican changes against Woodrow Wilson," Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson College Polling, said. "This data suggests that Republicans want either Trump or a Trumpian candidate to be their nominee, or half of them may split from the party."

Among Republican voters, 67% declared that they would want Trump to be the GOP candidate in 2024. The only other candidate who received double-digit support was DeSantis, with 10%. DeSantis would be the favorite at 32% if Trump were not to run in 2024.

There were 60% of Democratic voters who want the 78-year-old Biden as the 2024 DNC presidential nominee, while 39% said they would want another candidate.

The Emerson College poll results found Biden's approval rating is underwater with 47% of respondents disapproving of his job performance compared to 46% who approve. In Emerson's poll taken in February, Biden had a 49% approval rating with only 39% disapproving.

According to the latest data from RealClearPolitics, Biden has a 49.3% disapproval rating while only 45.2% approve of the president's job.

Biden has seen his approval ratings plummet in recent weeks due in most part to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, where 13 U.S. service members were killed evacuating Kabul.

A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 51% disapprove of Biden's job performance.

A Rasmussen Reports poll from last week revealed that 52% of U.S. likely voters want Biden to resign.

A new Morning Consult/Politico survey of registered voters shows that 61% of Americans believe the U.S. has "pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track."

The recent polls were taken before the extremely disappointing August jobs report that was released on Friday, which could damage Biden's approval rating even further.

The survey also asked which president is most responsible for the war in Afghanistan. There were 49% of Americans who blame former President George W. Bush, 24% say Biden holds the most responsibility, 18% say former President Barack Obama, and Trump at 10% has the least responsibility, according to voters.