Democratic support for Biden 2024 bid jumps in pre-SOTU poll

Support for a possible reelection bid from President Biden jumped up among Democrats in the days ahead of his State of the Union address, which was seen by many as laying the foundations for a 2024 run. 

A new Economist-YouGov poll, taken Feb. 4 to Feb. 7, found that 53 percent of Democrats now want Biden to run for reelection, up from 38 percent just two weeks ago. 

The new figure puts Biden on a more level playing field with former President Trump, for whom 54 percent of Republicans say they support another White House run. 

Biden hasn’t officially announced whether he’ll run again but has repeatedly said he intends to do so and has been rumored to be readying a launch. Trump kicked off his campaign just after the midterm elections last year. 

The president delivered his second State of the Union address Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, outlining his legislative wins and priorities to an animated audience, sometimes spurring audible dissent and heckling from Republicans in attendance. 

Trump released an aggressive two-minute response video after Biden stepped down from the podium, railing against the Biden administration on immigration, crime and the economy.

But though more than half of Republicans support another Trump run, 41 percent in the poll said they’d prefer the former president as the GOP’s nominee come the primaries. 

Coming in a close second place was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), with 35 percent of the party saying he’s their first choice for the Republican pick. 

The next-highest potential candidate was former Vice President Mike Pence, who secured just 7 percent of support. And Nikki Haley, the only big-name Republican set to enter the race with Trump so far, got just 5 percent. 

The Economist-YouGov poll surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults from Feb. 4 to Feb. 7 and had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. Figures referencing either major party also include independents leaning in that direction.