Trump beats Biden in general election and dominates GOP primary, tops DeSantis by 40 points: Harvard Harris poll

Former President Donald Trump is beating President Joe Biden in a new national election poll and is dominating the Republican Party primary with a 40-point lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  

According to a new Harvard Harris poll, Trump is the clear favorite for the GOP nomination, leading with 52 percent over DeSantis’ 12 percent. In addition, Trump has a 42-point lead over third-place candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.  

The national poll was conducted with 2,068 registered voters and results were weighted by political party affiliation, region, and other demographics.  

In a match-up for the presidency, Trump pulls ahead and wins a "hypothetical horserace against Biden by five points” and leads “against [Vice President Kamala] Harris by nine" in another potential match-up.

Voters who were polled for the general election were asked, "If the 2024 election for President were held today and it was between Donald Trump, the Republican and Joe Biden, the Democrat, who would you vote for?" The same question was asked for Harris in place of Biden.  

Although there is support for both Trump and Biden in a head-to-head match-up for the presidency, two-thirds of voters do not wish to see Biden run, while less than six in 10 say the same for Trump.  

57 percent of those polled also said they would consider an independent, moderate candidate, and 70 percent say they want "another choice." 

Aside from the presidential race and GOP primary, the economy and recent Supreme Court cases were also highlighted in the poll.  

A majority of voters believed that Trump and Republicans in Congress understand the economy better than Biden. Independents split 60 percent to Trump and 40 to Biden on the subject of the economy. The majority of voters also thought that Trump had better economic policies than Biden does now.  

As far as Supreme Court cases, a majority of voters think that some of the recent major cases decided by the Supreme Court ended with a correct winning ruling. 56 percent of voters in the poll agreed that "abortion laws should be left to the states instead of being a constitutional right" and 60 percent agreed that "people who design websites do not have to design a site for a gay wedding if it's against their religious belief." 

The case overruling affirmative action was also supported by over two-thirds of those polled.  

Other topics, such as student loans, January 6, and the war in Ukraine, were also covered.