Donald Trump is the most controversial presidential candidate in decades. As president, his popularity was mixed at best. Trump was subjected to an endless array of legal and political crises during his time in office—some of them worsened by his own flagrant actions, much of them were the result of corruption on the part of Trump’s various enemies.
Even today, as Trump runs for president a third time, the numbers are coming in indicating that his appeal to voters is approximately the same as President Joe Biden’s appeal.
In key national polling taken in the last week, both Trump and Biden are tied with likely voters, each man getting 43 percent. In the key swing state of New Hampshire, there’s a poll showing that a majority of New Hampshire Republicans would welcome Donald Trump’s candidacy—even if the forty-fifth president is in prison.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s approval ratings remain in the toilet. They’ve gone up somewhat from their historic lows in certain polls.
The fact remains, however, that the forty-sixth president’s reelection bid is already having difficulty against a candidate, Donald Trump, who at any other point in our history would have likely been disqualified from being taken seriously as a presidential candidate because of all the controversy surrounding him presently.
Biden’s Primary Challengers vs. Trump’s Primary Challengers
While Trump is being challenged by a coterie of candidates for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, it is obvious that, at least for now, the former president remains the presumptive nominee. Trump presently leadshis nearest challenger, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, 52.4 percent to DeSantis’ 15.6 percent.
President Biden, on the other hand, faces off against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as well as Marianne Williamson for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2024. While Williamson is not a real threat, when combined with RFK, Jr.’s very serious challenge to Biden, the forty-sixth president’s supposedly easy path to the Democratic Party’s nomination is made more complicated.
Although, it should be noted that the Democratic Party has no problem rigging its own primary election to ensure that the preferred candidate of the Democrats’ powerbrokers is nominated. Remember Bernie Sanders in 2016? Or even Jesse Jackson’s 1988 campaign?
In both cases, the primary was rigged to ensure the elite’s preferred candidate got the nod—even if that preferred candidate was not the most favored by the rank-and-file Democratic Party voters.
Despite the overt rigging that will go on for Biden, RFK, Jr., is still damaging Biden’s bid for reelection. He just might decide to run as an independent if he cannot breach the stranglehold on the DNC that the pro-Biden powerbrokers have on the primary process. Should that happen, then Trump might become the most competitive candidate, even though RFK, Jr., will compete for similar voters in the General Election that Donald Trump will.
Donald Trump Winning in Key States, Too
Then there are the spate of polls coming out of key swing states showing that former President Trump is leading with voters in those states when placed in a head-to-head matchup against President Biden.
None of this bodes well for Biden and the Democrats.
This, as the Biden-led Department of Justice piles on indictment upon indictment of his political rival, Trump, in what many believe to be a set of politicized prosecutions. Trump’s last indictment came just a little more than a week ago for his alleged involvement in the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill. Even with all that hanging over Trump’s head, he’s still competitive with Joe Biden.
What’s on display, then, is more than mere partisanship. There is a real dissatisfaction on both the Left and Right with Biden’s presidency. He’s failed to deliver just about everything he’s promised. That which he has delivered has effectively contributed to the exploding inflation and interest rates.
If the next election is entirely above-board and should the 2024 General Election be a rematch of the Trump-Biden fight from 2020, the Democrats just might find themselves on the losing end, given the perceived failures of the Biden Administration.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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