Independent candidates in US election in Biden's interest: NBC poll

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Apr 2024 08:02

Trump, who leads polls against Biden, would lose his advantage if three other candidates not associated with the Democratic and Republican parties enter the race.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference, on Friday, April 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP)

A new NBC poll found that the participation of independent candidates in the upcoming presidential election in the United States benefits incumbent President Joe Biden more than former President Donald Trump.

When choosing between the two candidates, the respondents favored Trump over Biden with 46% and 44% respectively, the poll's results published on Sunday revealed.

However, the frontrunner would be changed if three other candidates not associated with the major Democratic and Republican parties enter the race.

Biden then receives 39% of the votes, Trump 37%, independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 13%, Jill Stein from the Green Party 3%, and philosopher Cornel West 2%.

The poll was conducted on April 12-16 with the participation of 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

This comes ahead of opening statements Monday morning in Trump's "hush money" trial in New York after jury selection was completed on Friday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of business fraud as part of an alleged plan to cover up payments to an adult star to keep the story of a sexual encounter from emerging just before the 2016 presidential election, in which he beat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has denounced the trial – the first of a former US president – as a political "witch hunt".

Trump leads Biden in six swing states amid capability, economy concerns

A Wall Street Journal survey released in early April indicated that Trump leads in six of seven swing states ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.

The survey indicated that Trump leads Biden by two to eight percentage points in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina on ballots that include and omit third-party and independent candidates.

In a different critical battleground state, Wisconsin, Biden leads by three points on multi-candidate ballots, but he and Trump are deadlocked when they are the only candidates on the ballot.