Aaron Parsley has been a part of PEOPLE's digital team for more than 15 years. Based in Austin, he now covers crime and political news, including national and local elected officials, candidates, policymakers, activists, campaigns, elections, scandals, speeches, and other political events. He has a M.A. in Journalism from New York University and studied Spanish Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Aaron is a runner and loves reading history and dystopian fiction. He is also a huge Miranda Lambert fan.
Two likely candidates in the 2024 race for the White House are neck and neck, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump came close to a tie, with 47% of respondents saying they preferred the Democrat and 53% saying they preferred the Republican when asked, “In a general election race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump who would you prefer?”
With a 4.5% margin of error, the poll is considering it a "statistical dead heat."
Maury Blackman, CEO of the data company Premise, announced the results of the Premise Poll in an episode of his podcast, Great Minds Think Data.
Biden, 79, confirmed early in his first term that he intends to run for reelection in the 2024 cycle with Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket.
Asked if he will seek reelection in a December interview, Biden said, "Yes," but then added, "I'm a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now, in good health, then in fact I would run again."
Trump, 76, began hinting about a third run for White House almost as soon as he moved out but has not yet officially launched his candidacy, though his fundraising efforts have drawn scrutiny as he continues to tease a 2024 bid.
“In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” he told New York magazine earlier this month, adding that it’s not so much a question of if he’ll run but whether he’ll make the announcement before or after this year’s midterm elections in November.
"I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after," he said in an interview with New York. "You understand what that means?"
The Premise Poll's findings of a potential Trump advantage are based on submissions from 635 adults who are 18 year and older and live in the U.S. Their responses to a series of questions were collected on July 15 and 16, according to information provided by Premise.
"Weights were applied at the close of data collection to replicate the distribution of age group and gender in the US population," the company said in a press release. "The population distributions for targeted weighting (the adjusting variables) were obtained through the U.S. Census."
On Election Day in 2024, Trump will be 78 and Biden will be just a couple weeks from his 82nd birthday.
Asked about a rematch in two years, Biden said in December, "You're trying to tempt me now. Sure, why would I not run against Donald Trump if he's the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running."
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