Biden beating Trump, losing to Haley in latest Quinnipiac poll
President Joe Biden leads former president and likely challenger Donald Trump in a new Quinnipiac University poll, while the Democrat incumbent trails Republican candidate Nikki Haley.
In findings announced Wednesday, Quinnipiac University researchers reported that Biden leads Trump 50% to 44% in a hypothetical election between the two 2020 election opponents.
The survey was based on responses from over 1,650 U.S. adults who were questioned between Jan. 25 and Jan. 29. The data has a margin error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. Of those surveyed, 696 identified as Republican or Republican-leaning, while 693 identified as Democrat or Democrat-leaning.
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Researchers noted that the difference between Trump and Biden was an increase from numbers they reported in December when Biden had 47% support versus Trump's 46%, which the pollsters had labeled "too close to call."
When put one vs. one against Haley, Biden loses to the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, with Haley securing 47% support while the current president received 42%.
However, when the pollsters included multiple third-party options, Haley lost to Biden, with the incumbent earning 36%, Haley receiving 29%, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. securing 21%, independent candidate Cornel West getting 3% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein bringing in 2%.
"In a head-to-head matchup against Biden, Haley outperforms Trump, thanks to independents. Add third-party candidates to the mix, and her numbers slip in part because of her weakness among Republicans," states Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
While the Quinnipiac results show Biden clearly defeating Trump, other polls have indicated that the Republican primary frontrunner would defeat the man who beat him in the 2020 election.
For example, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released last month found that Trump held a slight lead over Biden: 39% supported the former president, 37% supported Biden and 17% said they would vote third party.
The polling also found that Trump leads Biden among voters younger than 35 (37% to 33%) and leads with Hispanic voters (39% to 34%), while 20% of black and Hispanic voters said they will vote third party.
"Although Trump hasn't grown support among black voters, he has closed the deficit because third-party voters come off of Biden's support among blacks," said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk's Political Research Center, as quoted by USA Today.
"A young voter or a person of color voting 'third party' is a vote away from President Biden, and a vote away from President Biden is a vote for Donald Trump."
In recent weeks, Trump won both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary election, prompting multiple Republican opponents to suspend their campaigns and endorse the former president.
Following her defeat in New Hampshire, Haley told supporters that the GOP presidential nomination race was "far from over" and that there were "dozens of states left to go."
"With Donald Trump, you have one bout of chaos after another. This court case, that controversy, this tweet, that senior moment. You can't fix Joe Biden's chaos with Republican chaos," she said.
"Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump. The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to win this election."
