In a recent survey, a significant number of Republican voters favored bypassing primary debates for the sake of challenging President Joe Biden. This sentiment is largely driven by former President Donald Trump’s dominant position in the polls, where he commands around 60% support, far outpacing the rest of the field.
According to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, 52% of Republican voters are in favor of the Republican National Committee canceling the remaining debates. The view is shared by 40% of likely voters across the board.
Despite this prevailing mood, there is still a substantial group of voters who are interested in watching the upcoming debates. The next debate is currently scheduled to take place on November 8 in Miami, Florida, with 66% of Republican voters indicating they plan to attend or watch the event.
Donald Trump’s campaign urged the Republican National Committee to cancel any remaining presidential primary debates and focus on defeating Joe Biden next year. To date, Trump has chosen not to participate in any primary debates and has implied he would not attend any future debates. The other candidates are mostly polling in the mid-single digits, except for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has managed to maintain his double-digit numbers.
In a surprising move, President Trump has decided to hold a rally on the same day and in the same county as the third Republican presidential debate. The debate is scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. in Miami, Florida. It is speculated that the rally was intentionally planned for the same day as the debate as a way of drawing attention away from it.
The poll also comes at a time when Vivek Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur and political candidate, has hinted he, too, might not attend the debate. He had previously proposed narrowing the field to include only the top candidates, which would likely have placed him on stage alongside Governor DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence. The survey, conducted between October 18-20, included responses from 992 likely U.S. voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3%.
Meanwhile, in a related development, President Joe Biden’s approval rating has taken a hit, dropping below 40% according to a recent Gallup survey. Even within his own party, support for Biden has weakened, with his approval rating among Democrats falling from 86% in September to 75% in October. This 11% decrease is the most significant drop among all party affiliations over the month, resulting in Biden’s lowest approval rating from members of his own party to date.
Biden’s average approval rating for his 11th quarter in office stands at 40.0%, slightly below that of former President Trump, who had an average approval rating of 40.7% during the same period. The Gallup survey did not delve into specific issues. Still, it did note that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has been a source of criticism for Biden, particularly from within his own party, due to his close alignment with Israel.
On average, Biden’s approval rating is at 40.7%, with a disapproval rating of 55.6%, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.