President Biden would easily beat former President Donald Trump in a\u00a0hypothetical 2024 election matchup\u00a0\u2014 but would lose if he faced off against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a recent poll.
\nIn a\u00a0rematch of the 2020 presidential contest, the 80-year-old Biden would prevail over his 76-year-old predecessor by eight percentage points in the popular vote \u2014 49% to 41% \u2014 but would fall to the Sunshine State\u2019s Republican governor by 45% to 42% in a head-to-head contest, the\u00a0WPA Intelligence survey released Jan. 13 found.
\nTrump announced Nov. 15 that he would mount a third consecutive run\u00a0for the White House, while Biden is expected to seek re-election, but has yet to make a formal announcement.
\nDeSantis, fresh off a landslide re-election victory on Nov. 8, has not said whether he will\u00a0enter the 2024 race\u00a0\u2014 but most observers expect him to get in later this year.
\nThe poll, taken between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8 and\u00a0commissioned by the conservative\u2002Club for Growth, found that while DeSantis lagged behind Biden and Trump in name recognition, his favorability rating (41%) surpassed the former president\u2019s (39%) and came within four percentage points of the current president (45%).
\nBut DeSantis\u2019 unfavorable rating (38%) comes in well below Biden (55%) and Trump (60%).
\n\u201cMore Americans are learning about Ron DeSantis and the good he\u2019s done as the governor of Florida,\u201d said Club for Growth PAC president David McIntosh. \u201cOf the potential candidates surveyed, DeSantis has high favorability with room to grow.\u201d
\nThe survey was concluded before the announcement that classified documents from Biden\u2019s time as vice president had been\u00a0found at his Wilmington, Del., home, as well as a DC think tank office he used after leaving the Obama administration in 2017.
\nA special counsel,\u00a0former Maryland US Attorney Robert Hur, was tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland last week to examine the matter.<\/p>\n