As the 2024 presidential election draws ever closer, a recent poll has revealed that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have lost support to two American independent presidential candidates.
The poll, which was conducted by the New York-based research and analytics firm Solstice Consulting, showed that Biden and Trump received a combined 52% of the vote when pitted against two independent candidates. This outcome is far below the 90% of the vote both candidates received when pitted against each other in the 2020 election.
As it stands, Biden has managed to maintain a 48% approval rating, while Trump’s approval rating dipped to an all-time low of 4%. In essence, this suggests that the majority of Americans are fed up with partisan politics and are looking for something new.
In terms of the two independent presidential candidates, the poll found that “Neither” candidate- meaning neither Biden nor Trump- receives 27% of the vote, while “Someone Else”- presumably a third party or independent candidate- receives 24%. While both figures are still low in comparison to Biden and Trump’s numbers, it’s worth noting that the results of the poll suggest a growing dissatisfaction with both the Democratic and Republican parties- something that could be of significant concern to both parties in the run up to the 2024 Election.
The poll also revealed a great degree of support for Biden when pitted against a hypothetical “Someone Else” candidate, as Biden received 68% of the vote whilst the “Someone Else” candidate received 19%. This result suggests that Biden has maintained his support amongst American voters despite Trump’s decreasing popularity.
The findings of this poll demonstrate that, as the upcoming election nears, Americans are starting to look beyond the two-party system and are willing to consider lesser-known independent candidates. This could lead to an interesting election season as new dynamic candidates enter the political arena and try to build support amongst an increasingly disillusioned electorate.