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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
The news just keeps getting worse for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, as evidenced by a newly released poll that finds him trailing the top three Republican contenders, including a surprising finish by a candidate not named Donald Trump.
“A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey of registered voters finds President Joe Biden trailing against each of the top three potential Republican candidates, with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley leading Biden 55% to 45% among registered voters,” the university said in a Thursday press release revealing the results of its poll.
“Former President Trump leads Biden 52% to 48% in the same category, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a 51% to 49% advantage,” the university’s press release continued, adding:
Among likely voters, Haley sees her advantage rise to 12 percentage points at 56-44. The Biden-DeSantis hypothetical does not change with likely voters, while Trump’s support decreases to 51% against Biden’s 49%.
These results include initially undecided voters who were then asked to choose one of the candidates.
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Among registered Republican voters, Trump maintains a substantial lead over all others in the primary field for the GOP nomination, with 54% of the total. DeSantis and Haley are tied at 12%. That represents a rise for Haley and a decline for DeSantis since March. No other candidate has more than 4% support in the current poll.
For her part, Haley had a few big moments at the third 2024 Republican primary debate last week.
While speaking to NBC News following the debate, Haley reflected on her performance and discussed the state of the race. She boasted about her campaign surging into second place in some GOP primary polls, saying that she has no plans to drop out of the race despite Trump’s commanding lead.
Haley also took the time to hit back at Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after he brought up her daughter at the debate.
“I have to start with the moment we saw with Vivek Ramaswamy. Can you take a minute to reflect on that moment and what was going through your head? Do you dislike him?” an NBC News reporter asked.
“Look, I’m a mom. The second you start saying something about my 25-year-old daughter, I will get my backup. It is not even about the personal part. There are serious differences I have with him. He does not think we have to help Israel; he sides with Putin, and he thinks that Ukraine doesn’t matter,” Haley began.
“He is okay with giving Taiwan to China. There are so many issues. He does not think America needs friends. I think he has a dangerous foreign policy that we can’t afford. I think he would make America less safe,” she added.
“I do not even give him the time of day. He is not worthy. He is not ready to be president; everybody knows that and sees that. So many things he said were uncalled for,” she concluded.
Arguably the tensest moment of the debate came when the discussion over whether to outlaw the social media app TikTok—which the FBI and other national security authorities have warned could transmit personal information to China’s autocratic government—sparked the heated exchange.
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“Her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time, so you might want to take care your family first,” Ramaswamy told Haley at the debate in Miami, the third GOP debate of the election cycle. The audience booed in response.
“Leave my daughter out of your voice. … You’re just scum,” Haley shot back with apparent content, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
Some major GOP donors have yet to decide which candidate they want to back despite Trump’s seemingly insurmountable lead, including Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, hedge fund titan Paul Singer, and Thomas Peterffy, the founder of stock brokerage firm Interactive Brokers.