NEW POLL: Trump Holds Massive Lead Over Biden On Who’s More ‘Competent and Effective’ — But RFK Pulls in 13% and Flips the Race to Biden
Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (I) could prove to be a spoiler for Donald Trump’s candidacy, according to a new NBC News poll.
In a two-way race, Trump just edges out Biden 46% to 44%, but when RFK is thrown into the mix, he takes 13% of the vote, which pushes Biden over the top. Trump leads by 2 points with Kennedy out of the race, but trails by 2 points with RFK included — a 4-point swing in Biden’s favor.
The Kennedy family has come out in favor of Biden and has called on RFK to drop out. Rory Kennedy told MSNBC she feared her brother “takes many more votes from Biden than he does from Trump. And I think this election is going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states, and I’m concerned that his campaign and running for office as an independent is going to lead to Trump’s election.”
But this new poll suggests the opposite — that Trump is hurt more by RFK’s presence in the race than Biden.
Also according to the poll, NBC News asked 1,000 likely presidential voters whether Biden or Trump was more “competent and effective,” with Trump leading by a whopping 11%. The poll also found:
Trump…leads on having the ability to handle a crisis (by 4 points), on having a strong record of accomplishments (by 7 points), on being competent and effective (by 11 points), on having the necessary mental and physical health to be president (by 19 points) and on dealing with inflation and the cost of living (by 22 points).
Voter interest in the upcoming election was at “a nearly 20-year low,” NBC News reported, “with majorities holding negative views of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.”
NBC News noted that the poll was conducted April 12-16 during a “turbulent” time in American politics with the “beginning of Trump’s criminal trial in New York, as well as new attacks and heightened tensions in the Middle East,” and had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.
Read the NBC News story here.
