A strong majority of voters don’t want to see either Joe Biden or Donald Trump run for president again in 2024, but they’re willing to pay more to keep Trump off the ballot, according to a new Deseret News/HarrisX national poll.
When asked whether they want Biden to run for president again, 66% of voters said he should not run, compared to only 58% of voters who don’t want Trump on the ballot. But the voters who don’t want Trump to run are willing to pay more to keep him off the ballot — a measure of how strong voters’ feelings are about the former president.
Voters were asked in the Deseret News/HarrisX poll: “Imagine you could pay some amount of money to guarantee Donald Trump (or Joe Biden) does not run for president in 2024. How much money would you be willing to pay?,” with a cap set at $50,000.
The average amount voters were willing to pay to keep Trump off the ballot was $5,478, while those who wanted Biden to stay off the ballot were only willing to cough up an average of $3,051. According to the survey, 16% of all registered voters surveyed would pay $100 or more to guarantee Trump stays out of the White House; 12% say the same regarding Biden.
The poll, conducted Sept. 20 among 932 registered voters, showed that both parties’ current front-runners for the 2024 race are deeply unpopular among most voters.
Despite Biden’s approval rating creeping up slightly in recent weeks, voters still don’t want him to run in 2024, including 80% of independent voters. Earlier this month, Biden told “60 Minutes” he hasn’t decided yet if he would run for reelection.
Biden’s presidency has been plagued by economic missteps, including not responding early enough to concerns about inflation. Even as it became clear that the economy was starting to overheat, he pushed through a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, adding fuel to the fire. And with real wages down, families have less money to spend, giving rise to fears that the economy will slip into a recession.
There are also concerns about Biden’s age — at 79 years old, he appears to be slowing down. Meanwhile, Trump, who is 76, is only slightly younger. Despite both Trump and Biden falling into their demographic, older voters were solidly in the column of not wanting either man to run. Of respondents who were 65 years or older, 71% said they did not want Biden to run, and 59% said the same thing about Trump.
Despite Biden’s woes Republicans have been unable to capitalize on his unpopularity, as their own top choice for president — which is still Trump according to the latest polls — is also deeply unpopular among voters.
While only 29% of Republicans say they don’t want Trump to run, 63% of independents and 81% of Democrats want him to stay off the ballot, according to the Deseret News/HarrisX poll.
Trump also fared poorly among Black and Latino voters, with 70% of Black voters and 66% of Latino voters saying they don’t want Trump to run. Biden did better among Black voters, with only 53% saying he should stay off the ballot, while 72% of Latinos do not want him to run again.
Women were more likely than men to want both Trump and Biden to bow out, with 73% of women saying Biden shouldn’t run, compared to 57% of men; while 64% of women said Trump shouldn’t run, compared to 51% of men.
Democrats and Republicans have managed to keep Trump in the news in recent weeks. Democrats continue to press for investigations into Trump’s personal financial statements and his handling of classified documents, while Republican voters chose many of Trump’s endorsed candidates in this year’s primary elections.
Biden appears to be holding out until after this November’s midterm elections before announcing whether he will run for president again in 2024. Meanwhile, it’s unclear if Trump will announce his intentions before or after the midterms.