Former President Donald Trump maintains a strong lead among independent voters over incumbent President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Ron DeSantis, according to a recent national poll.
In a head-to-head race between Biden and Trump, 45% of registered voters said they would cast their ballot for Trump, while only 39% indicated support for Biden. Some 16% of respondents said they were unsure who they would vote for, according to July’s Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.
Among independent voters, 45% said they would side with Trump compared to just 27% for Biden. A sizeable 28% of independent voters said they were still uncertain.
Trump also fared better among independents when matched against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is challenging the former president in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination.
In a hypothetical race pitting Biden against DeSantis, fewer independent voters (42%) said they would pick the Florida governor compared to those who said they would vote for Trump over Biden.
As recently as this week, a pro-DeSantis PAC was boosting a third-party analysis that suggested DeSantis was more palatable to independents than Trump. The results of the Harvard-Harris poll seem to contradict that analysis.
The poll also suggests that voters are not too happy with the country’s direction overall.
An overwhelming 61% of voters said they believed the country is on the wrong track, while only 29% said they believe America is moving in the right direction. Among independents, a meager 19% said the country is on the right track.
Respondents indicated that the top three issues facing the United States are inflation, the economy, and immigration.
Only 38% of those polled approved of Biden’s performance on the economy and immigration issues, while 35% approved of his approach to handling inflation. Overall, Biden’s approval rating sits at 42%, with 45% disapproving, according to the Harvard-Harris poll.
Trump, meanwhile, logged higher numbers on both the positive and the negative side, with a 45% favorability rating and 49% unfavorability.
The results come as Trump faces several lawsuits and potential indictments concerning his conduct on January 6, 2021, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The former president is already under indictment for his alleged handling of classified documents after he left office.
Some 64% of poll respondents said they thought “Trump actively tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” but only 49% said they held Trump personally responsible for the events of January 6.
However, 61% of voters polled said that they believed recent IRS whistleblower testimony claiming that the Department of Justice shielded Joe Biden by unfairly steering or stonewalling investigations into the business dealings of his son Hunter.
The poll was conducted July 19-20, with 2,068 registered voters surveyed.