Former President Donald Trump is currently ahead of President Joe Biden in the race for the White House.
That’s according to the new Emerson College Polling national survey, which found that 46% of potential voters favor Trump while 43% are leaning toward Biden.
The support for Trump has stayed the same since the last Emerson College poll in early April, but Biden has fallen 2 percentage points, according to The Hill.
The survey also showed more voters disapprove of Biden’s presidency than approve with a rating of 40% approval to 53% disapproval.
When independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is added to the ballot, Trump’s support fell to 44% while Biden went down to 40%. Kennedy walked away with 8% of the vote.
The survey noted Kennedy’s support comes from independent voters at 13%, voters under 30 at 12% and Black voters at 9%.
Part of the survey included voters’ stance on key button issues such as the cost of living, economy and immigration.
Seventy percent of the voters said the cost of living is on the rise. Of that 70%, more are likely to pull the lever for Trump than Biden.
“Voters who think the cost of living is rising support Trump over Biden, 56% to 32%,” according to Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Those who feel the cost of living is easing or staying the same support Biden over Trump, 94% to 6% and 67% to 18%.”
The top issue for voters is the economy at 36%. Other main issues are “immigration at 21%, threats to democracy at 10%, healthcare at 9%, abortion access at 7%, and crime at 6%,” according to the survey.
On the topic of family income, 44% believe their family income is average, compared to 38% who think it is below average, and 18% think theirs is above average.
“Income perception aligns with candidate preference, with those feeling their income is far below average favoring Trump 50% to 32% and those feeling it’s far above average favoring Biden 55% to 29%,” Kimball said.
One issue that stood out for voters was Israel-Hamas war with 44% of the voters saying they do not believe they are being told accurate information. This compares to 25% think they are, and 31% are not sure.
“Perceptions of receiving accurate war information show a significant split,” Kimball noted. “Biden leads among those who think they are getting accurate information (53% to 36%), while Trump leads among skeptics (53% to 38%). Those unsure are divided, with 44% leaning toward Trump and 42% toward Biden.”
There are 41% of the voters who think Israel should retaliate against Iran regarding missile strikes. Twenty-eight percent say they should not and 31% are not sure.
“There’s a clear division in candidate preference based on opinions about Israel’s response to Iran’s missile strikes, with Trump being favored by those in favor of retaliation, 66% to 25% while those who favor no retaliation break for Biden, 67% to 23%,” Kimball said.
A vast majority of men (51%) think Israel should retaliate. However, 32% of women had the same opinion.
“Twenty-six percent of men think they should not retaliate compared to 30% of women,” per the survey.
The survey was done April 16 to 17 and included 1,308 registered voters. It has a 2.6% margin of error.
