In Nevada, a state Biden narrowly carried in the 2020 presidential election, Trump boasts 52% support to Biden’s 41%. Trump also tops Biden in Georgia, a state that was central to his ploy to overturn the last presidential election, with 49% to Biden’s 43%.
Trump leads Biden in Arizona, too, with 49% to the president’s 44%. In Michigan, Trump holds a 5-point lead as well: 48% to Biden’s 43%.
Each poll has a margin of sampling error between 4.4 and 4.8 points, and the head-to-head matchup remains theoretical — primary voting does not begin until next year. Trump overwhelmingly remains the Republican front-runner, while Biden, who drew a primary challenge from Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips last month, is heavily favored for the Democratic nomination.
The latest battleground state polling underscores the considerable challenges facing Biden’s reelection bid, including low job approval ratings and questions about his age and ability to steer the country. The poll results are especially striking for Biden given Trump’s mounting legal troubles. The former president faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz downplayed the polling in a statement Sunday, telling CNN: “Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later.”
“Coming off those historic (2022) midterms, President Biden’s campaign is hard at work reaching and mobilizing our diverse, winning coalition of voters one year out on the choice between our winning, popular agenda and MAGA Republicans’ unpopular extremism. We’ll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll,” Munoz said.
The Nikki Haley-Ron DeSantis feud will play out in real time tonight on the debate stage
From CNN's Arit John, Kit Maher and Ebony Davis
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis AP/Getty Images
After weeks spent locked in a bitter battle for second place, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will finally get the chance to grill each other in person over the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine’s war with Russia and China’s growing global influence during Wednesday’s third primary debate in Miami.
The two have been previewing the attack lines they might deliver on the debate stage in interviews, stump speeches and ads as they seek to distinguish themselves as the Republican candidate who would be the best alternative to former President Donald Trump. DeSantis has accused Haley of having wanted to “roll out the red carpet” to China as governor in an effort to undercut her foreign policy bona fides, while Haley has painted the Florida governor’s increased attention on her as the desperate acts of a stalling campaign.
As the window to catch up to Trump closes, DeSantis and Haley have ratcheted up the tone and frequency of their attacks on one another. Wednesday’s event offers the pair, and the rest of the rapidly shrinking GOP field, one of their last chances to make their case at primetime before caucuses and primaries begin early next year.
The event, hosted by NBC News, Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition, will be the first time the remaining qualifying candidates get the chance to face off since Hamas’ deadly terror attack on October 7 and Israel’s retaliatory response. Foreign policy – and how Republican candidates view America’s role in the world – is expected to be a key focus of the debate.
That will likely benefit Haley, who has framed much of her campaign around the need for America to have a robust foreign policy at a time when the isolationist wing of the GOP has grown. The debate could also be a chance for the former United Nations ambassador, whose rise has been attributed in part to strong performances in the first two debates, to build on the momentum that has materialized in the form of new donors and bigger crowds.
“Nikki has gone into every debate telling voters exactly where she stands on supporting Israel, defeating Vladimir Putin, and standing up to China,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. “She is authentic and unapologetic.”
But the debate is also a chance for DeSantis to paint Haley as out of touch with a party that has shifted away from the neoconservatism of the Bush administration.
“Compare my record and then think about her record,” DeSantis said at a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa, on Friday night. “… Has she dug in when it’s tough and fought and won and delivered? No, it’s just not the way it is. It’s just a different flavor of leader.”
Hal Lambert, a GOP megadonor backing DeSantis, said that the Florida governor has argued that some politicians are more focused with the security of other countries’ borders than America’s borders.
“If you want to contrast with, say, Haley, I think her inclination is to immediately go as aggressive as possible from a war posture,” he said. “Gov. DeSantis is much more restrained.”
1 min ago
These are the 5 Republicans who qualified for tonight's presidential debate
From CNN's Daniel Strauss
From left: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US Sen. Tim Scott AP
They are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Missing from the debate stage will be North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who qualified for the previous two debates, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who participated in the first debate but did not make the stage for the second one.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who qualified for the first two debates, dropped out of the Republican primary last month.
“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people,” Republic National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a news release.
To qualify for the third debate, candidates had to register 4% in either two national polls or one national poll and two polls from separate early-voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). Candidates also had to have reached at least 70,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in 20 states or territories.
Of the five candidates who’ve made the Miami stage, the stakes are particularly high for Haley and DeSantis. Haley has enjoyed a significant but not outsize burst of support in recent polling, in part thanks to previous debate performances. In a memo from campaign manager Betsy Ankney, the Haley campaign argues that the former governor is increasingly the “top Trump alternative” in three of the four early primary states.
For DeSantis, the situation is different but no less important. The Florida governor, who entered the race by touting himself as someone who could appeal to both Trump supporters and anti-Trump GOP primary voters, has struggled to maintain his early positioning as the major Republican alternative to the former president. His performance in the first two debates was restrained. And as his position in the primary remained largely static, his campaign has moved more resources to Iowa in the hopes that a breakout performance in the upcoming debates and then a strong showing in the January caucuses would reignite some of the early excitement for the Florida governor in the leadup to his campaign launch.
Trump, the front-runner in this Republican primary, is skipping the debate – as he did the two previous ones in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, California. He will instead headline a South Florida rally as counterprogramming to the debate. Trump’s team has argued that there should be fewer debates.
Tonight's rematch: Republican presidential candidates are preparing to face off tonight in Miami in the third primary debate of the 2024 cycle, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on NBC News.
The lineup: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott were the five candidates who qualified for the debate.
Trump will be a no-show again: Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in this GOP primary, is skipping the debate – as he did the two previous ones. He will instead headline a rally tonight in the Miami area.
Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden Reuters
In Nevada, a state Biden narrowly carried in the 2020 presidential election, Trump boasts 52% support to Biden’s 41%. Trump also tops Biden in Georgia, a state that was central to his ploy to overturn the last presidential election, with 49% to Biden’s 43%.
Trump leads Biden in Arizona, too, with 49% to the president’s 44%. In Michigan, Trump holds a 5-point lead as well: 48% to Biden’s 43%.
Each poll has a margin of sampling error between 4.4 and 4.8 points, and the head-to-head matchup remains theoretical — primary voting does not begin until next year. Trump overwhelmingly remains the Republican front-runner, while Biden, who drew a primary challenge from Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips last month, is heavily favored for the Democratic nomination.
The latest battleground state polling underscores the considerable challenges facing Biden’s reelection bid, including low job approval ratings and questions about his age and ability to steer the country. The poll results are especially striking for Biden given Trump’s mounting legal troubles. The former president faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz downplayed the polling in a statement Sunday, telling CNN: “Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later.”
“Coming off those historic (2022) midterms, President Biden’s campaign is hard at work reaching and mobilizing our diverse, winning coalition of voters one year out on the choice between our winning, popular agenda and MAGA Republicans’ unpopular extremism. We’ll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll,” Munoz said.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis AP/Getty Images
After weeks spent locked in a bitter battle for second place, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will finally get the chance to grill each other in person over the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine’s war with Russia and China’s growing global influence during Wednesday’s third primary debate in Miami.
The two have been previewing the attack lines they might deliver on the debate stage in interviews, stump speeches and ads as they seek to distinguish themselves as the Republican candidate who would be the best alternative to former President Donald Trump. DeSantis has accused Haley of having wanted to “roll out the red carpet” to China as governor in an effort to undercut her foreign policy bona fides, while Haley has painted the Florida governor’s increased attention on her as the desperate acts of a stalling campaign.
As the window to catch up to Trump closes, DeSantis and Haley have ratcheted up the tone and frequency of their attacks on one another. Wednesday’s event offers the pair, and the rest of the rapidly shrinking GOP field, one of their last chances to make their case at primetime before caucuses and primaries begin early next year.
The event, hosted by NBC News, Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition, will be the first time the remaining qualifying candidates get the chance to face off since Hamas’ deadly terror attack on October 7 and Israel’s retaliatory response. Foreign policy – and how Republican candidates view America’s role in the world – is expected to be a key focus of the debate.
That will likely benefit Haley, who has framed much of her campaign around the need for America to have a robust foreign policy at a time when the isolationist wing of the GOP has grown. The debate could also be a chance for the former United Nations ambassador, whose rise has been attributed in part to strong performances in the first two debates, to build on the momentum that has materialized in the form of new donors and bigger crowds.
“Nikki has gone into every debate telling voters exactly where she stands on supporting Israel, defeating Vladimir Putin, and standing up to China,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. “She is authentic and unapologetic.”
But the debate is also a chance for DeSantis to paint Haley as out of touch with a party that has shifted away from the neoconservatism of the Bush administration.
“Compare my record and then think about her record,” DeSantis said at a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa, on Friday night. “… Has she dug in when it’s tough and fought and won and delivered? No, it’s just not the way it is. It’s just a different flavor of leader.”
Hal Lambert, a GOP megadonor backing DeSantis, said that the Florida governor has argued that some politicians are more focused with the security of other countries’ borders than America’s borders.
“If you want to contrast with, say, Haley, I think her inclination is to immediately go as aggressive as possible from a war posture,” he said. “Gov. DeSantis is much more restrained.”
From left: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US Sen. Tim Scott AP
They are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Missing from the debate stage will be North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who qualified for the previous two debates, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who participated in the first debate but did not make the stage for the second one.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who qualified for the first two debates, dropped out of the Republican primary last month.
“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people,” Republic National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a news release.
To qualify for the third debate, candidates had to register 4% in either two national polls or one national poll and two polls from separate early-voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). Candidates also had to have reached at least 70,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in 20 states or territories.
Of the five candidates who’ve made the Miami stage, the stakes are particularly high for Haley and DeSantis. Haley has enjoyed a significant but not outsize burst of support in recent polling, in part thanks to previous debate performances. In a memo from campaign manager Betsy Ankney, the Haley campaign argues that the former governor is increasingly the “top Trump alternative” in three of the four early primary states.
For DeSantis, the situation is different but no less important. The Florida governor, who entered the race by touting himself as someone who could appeal to both Trump supporters and anti-Trump GOP primary voters, has struggled to maintain his early positioning as the major Republican alternative to the former president. His performance in the first two debates was restrained. And as his position in the primary remained largely static, his campaign has moved more resources to Iowa in the hopes that a breakout performance in the upcoming debates and then a strong showing in the January caucuses would reignite some of the early excitement for the Florida governor in the leadup to his campaign launch.
Trump, the front-runner in this Republican primary, is skipping the debate – as he did the two previous ones in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, California. He will instead headline a South Florida rally as counterprogramming to the debate. Trump’s team has argued that there should be fewer debates.
