Former President Donald Trump touted his standing against President Joe Biden in early poll numbers projecting a potential rematch between the two in November 2024 during a Saturday night speech in Columbia, South Carolina.
“We’re kicking Biden’s ass” in the polls, Trump said to raucous applause from the attendees of the Silver Elephant Dinner.
Most national polling shows that the two likely opponents in the 2024 general election are running about even, with some favoring Biden and others favoring Trump.
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Trump addressed speculation that Democrats are indirectly assisting his bid for the Republican nomination, saying “well, if they did, they wouldn’t have every [district attorney] in the nation, they wouldn’t have all of these people … if they wanted to run against Trump, they’d say, ‘please, come on, step right up to the plate.’ And by the way, virtually every poll, we’re kicking Biden’s ass, and that’s the problem.”
“If I wasn’t, we wouldn’t be under investigation by deranged Jack Smith,” he continued. Smith serves as special counsel for Biden’s Department of Justice, in which capacity he is currently investigating Trump for alleged mishandling of classified documents as well as his actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump was indicted for the third time this week, this time in connection to the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Various reports have suggested that a fourth indictment may be forthcoming in relation to Trump’s actions following the 2020 election from the office of Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia.
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Though Trump’s poll numbers are currently high enough to concern some Democrats despite the three indictments against him, most available data suggests that he is running even or within the margin of error against Biden. The RealClearPolitics average has Biden leading Trump by less than one point.
A July New York Times and Siena poll had each potential candidate garnering support from 43% of surveyed registered voters. Meanwhile, a July poll from The Economist and YouGov has Biden leading Trump by 4%, and a Harvard-Harris poll from July has Trump up by five percentage points
Trump also blasted a host of Biden’s policies during his remarks, including the “Green New Deal,” immigration and regulation.
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