Donald Trump would likely defeat President Joe Biden in an electoral rematch, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The poll, conducted by Emerson College, found that if a new presidential election were held today, former President Trump would defeat Biden in the popular vote by four points, 48% to 44%.
A previous Emerson poll, conducted last November, showed Trump leading Biden by just two points, 45% to 43%. Trump lost the popular vote to Biden in 2020 by four-and-a-half points, 46.8% to 51.3%.
Respondents were also more likely now than in November to back Republican candidates for congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
Republicans led Democrats in the generic ballot last November by seven points, 49% to 42%, but expanded their lead to nine points in Tuesday’s poll, rising to a margin of 50% to 41%.
The poll also found that Americans are less concerned with the coronavirus than they were at the end of 2020, with a plurality now deeming the virus a “moderate threat”, rather than a “major threat”.
In December 2020, 54% of Americans called the virus a major threat, compared to 30% who said it was a moderate threat, 12% who believed it constituted a minor threat, and 5% who said it was no threat whatsoever.
Now, just 28% of respondents called the virus a major threat, with 37% saying they view it as a moderate threat. The percentage of Americans who view it as a minor threat nearly doubled, rising to 20%, while the percent who view it as no threat tripled, rising to 15%.
The Emerson poll was conducted from February 19th to the 20th, surveying 1,138 registered voters using a combination of online, cellphone SMS-to-web, and interactive voice response telephone samples.