President Joe Biden is reported to have a lead over former President Donald Trump among registered voters, according to the latest Marist/PBS Newshour poll published on Monday (April 22).

Biden holds a 51% to 48% edge over Trump in the Marist/PBS Newshour head-to-head poll, increasing his 50% to 48% lead in the previous poll published earlier this month. Additionally, Biden's lead grows to 53% to 47% when only counting respondents who said they definitely plan to vote in the 2024 presidential election in November.

The poll was released one day after the latest NBC News poll revealed that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was actually hindering Trump's support more than Biden's. Trump leads Biden by a 46% to 44% margin in a head-to-head matchup, however, Biden (39%) leads Trump (37%), Kennedy (13%), Jill Stein (3%) and Cornel West (2%) when all candidates are considered to be options, according to NBC News.

Additionally, 15% of respondents who picked Trump in the initial head-to-head poll instead chose Kennedy in the five-way ballot, while 7% who initially picked Biden instead chose Kennedy in the expanded poll.

Earlier this month, a FOX News poll reported that both candidates were in a tight race in four key battleground states. The poll, which surveyed 1,100 registered voters between April 11-16, showed that the two candidates were tied in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while Trump had a slight advantage in Georgia and Michigan, though both were within the margin of sampling error.

The surveys also reported that Trump was "meeting or exceeding his 2020 vote percentages in the two-way race, while Biden trails his number," and that "more voters disapprove than approve of Biden's job performance by at least 10 points." Biden, however, still overperformed his approval rating as 10% of the respondents who claimed to have disapproved his job performance still preferred him in a head-to-head matchup with Trump, who holds a significant advantage over the current president in the poll on the topics of immigration and the economy.

A New York Times and Siena College poll released in November 2023 reported that Trump led Biden by a 52% to 41% margin in Nevada, a 49% to 44% margin in Georgia, a 49% to 44% margin in Arizona, a 48% to 43% margin in Michigan and a 48% to 44% margin in Pennsylvania. Biden reportedly had a 47% to 45% edge over Trump in Wisconsin at the time.

The latest New York Times/Sienna College poll released last Saturday (April 13) also showed that Trump had an early polling advantage by a 47% to 46% margin.

Michael Brown

DAILY TALKBACKS