According to a recent NBC News poll, third-party presidential candidates have the potential to provide President Joe Biden with an advantage over former President Donald Trump in the upcoming November election.
Preliminary polling leading up to Election Day has indicated that Biden and Trump are in a close race. Although the former president has recently gained an advantage in key swing states like Arizona and Michigan, several national polls have favored Biden to win, often by a slim margin.
Ahead of the November election, numerous third-party and independent candidates have emerged. Many voters express a general disapproval of both Biden and Trump, the presumed nominees of the major parties. Democratic strategists had previously expressed concerns that independent options could impact Biden’s prospects. However, a recent survey by NBC News suggests that individuals like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who are running as third-party candidates, may actually draw votes away from Trump rather than Biden.
In the recently conducted poll, which gathered responses from 1,000 U.S. adult voters from April 12 to 16, it was revealed that Trump holds a 2 percentage point lead over Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup for November. However, when voters were presented with a five-way ballot including Biden, Trump, Kennedy Jr., Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and independent Cornel West, Biden emerged as the frontrunner with a 2 point lead over Trump.
In the five-way matchup, the results were as follows: Biden secured 39 percent of the votes, while Trump received 37 percent. Kennedy Jr. captured 13 percent, followed by Stein with 3 percent and West with 2 percent. Notably, the former president saw a decline in support, losing 15 percent of his voters to Kennedy Jr., while Biden experienced a 7 percent decrease.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Newsweek contacted the campaigns of both Trump and Biden via email to seek their comments.
Kennedy Jr., the son of ex-U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, initially entered the race as a Democrat but later announced his decision to run as an independent candidate.
Once a supporter of Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, the former president had garnered the support of many conservatives due to his skepticism on vaccines and other matters. However, Trump’s opinion of him has since changed. In a recent campaign video, he stated that Kennedy Jr. is now viewed as the “most radical left candidate in the race.”
During that time, Stefanie Spear, Kennedy Jr.’s campaign press secretary, expressed to Newsweek via email that Trump and Biden were considered as “the two most unpopular candidates in living memory.” She also emphasized how Kennedy Jr. was able to transcend the traditional right-left paradigm.
According to a recent poll conducted on Sunday, it was revealed that the public’s support for both Biden and Trump is lacking. More than half of the respondents (52 percent) expressed their negative sentiments towards Biden, while an almost equal percentage (53 percent) held the same view towards Trump. Additionally, a notable 32 percent of those surveyed also expressed overall negative opinions about Kennedy Jr.
According to a recent survey conducted by Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates and Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, it was found that Americans have a common desire to tune out the upcoming election. Horwitt mentioned that although there may be many disagreements among Americans, this is one issue that unites the country.
Uncommon Knowledge
At Newsweek, our mission is to challenge conventional wisdom and uncover meaningful connections in the pursuit of shared understanding.
Newsweek is dedicated to questioning traditional beliefs and uncovering links in the pursuit of shared understanding.
