New data from Rasmussen Reports shows former President Donald Trump maintaining his polling lead over incumbent President Joe Biden. The poll, conducted from January 7-9, shows Trump holding an eight-point lead over Biden, while former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley trails the Democrat President by two points with a large number of voters — 21 percent — remaining undecided.
The poll undermines claims made by the Haley campaign that she is the most electable candidate in the narrowing Republican primary. Voters appear uncertain about Haley’s candidacy and whether or not she is ready to serve as President – leaving 21 percent of the electorate still in play for Biden should she win the nomination.
On Wednesday, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was caught on a ‘hot mic’ expressing concerns over Haley’s electability and preparedness for running a nationwide presidential campaign. “She’s going to get smoked, you and I know it, she’s not up to this,” Christie can be heard saying just before he took the stage to announce he was dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Haley has drawn criticism for welcoming Chinese companies to locate in South Carolina while she served as the state’s governor. China Jushi, a materials manufacturer with ties to Chinese Communist Party leadership and the Chinese military, was even given land within 10 miles of a U.S. military installation in the Palmetto State under Haley’s governorship.
The Rasmussen data runs counter to a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal which showed Haley with a double-digit lead over Biden. Even the Journal tacitly acknowledged the results were an outlier, explaining that Haley’s numbers were driven by a group of voters “too small in our poll to yield precise numbers.” The Journal added these voters “tend to have college degrees, more so than do voters overall.”
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