Support for Trump drops by 10 points.
QUICK FACTS:
- A poll from Marist found that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential run may take support away from Trump.
- According to the poll, support for Joe Biden was 44%, support for Trump was 37%, and support for Kennedy was 16%.
- Three percent of poll respondents were undecided.
- Between only Trump and Biden, independent voters reported 49% support for Trump.
- “Although it’s always tricky to assess the impact of a third-party candidate, right now Kennedy alters the equation in Biden’s favor,” said Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “What this does speak to, however, is that about one in six voters are looking for another option, especially independents.”
Spoiler Alert: RFK Jr. is shaking up 2024 presidential election polling!
— Marist Poll (@maristpoll) October 17, 2023
Our brand-new poll w/ @NPR and the PBS @NewsHour how RFK Jr. is hurting one candidate more than the other: https://t.co/FFBaEOOk16 pic.twitter.com/TNsrpRikOT
OTHER POLLS FIND KENNEDY’S RUN HELPS TRUMP:
- A survey from Echelon Insights found that Donald Trump had a slightly larger lead over Joe Biden when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran as an Independent.
- Without Kennedy’s Independent bid, Trump leads Biden by three points, 46% to 43%.
- With Kennedy’s Independent bid, Trump leads Biden 40% to 36%.
- The findings suggest Democrats are more negatively affected by Kennedy’s Independent bid than Republicans.
- Other polls also revealed that JFK Jr.’s independent presidential bid threatened the Democratic Party, with President Joe Biden losing more supporters than Trump.
BACKGROUND:
- In a recent CNBC poll, Trump took a 4-point lead over Biden.
- Trump’s lead stood at 46-42, with 12% of respondents still undecided.
- As Micah Roberts, a partner at Republican polling agency Public Opinion Strategies, pointed out, “You don’t get sub 40 approval ratings without losing large chunks of your base. And that’s what’s happening here.”
- He labeled the findings as “distressing numbers for a president facing reelection.”
