is sailing into battle against President Joe Biden powered by anger over the two policy issues that have driven his comeback campaign so far: immigration and the economy.
Trump came close to sweeping the board in the 16 “Super Tuesday” Republican primary races, putting him on the verge of clinching the party’s nomination and allowing him to train his full fire on Biden ahead of the November election.
Trump has tapped into a current of dissatisfaction about the state of the country that he has amplified at every opportunity. It is one that could tip the scales in the rematch with Biden, who beat him in 2020.
Republican voters who went to the polls on Tuesday exhibited a deep pessimism about the economy that extends beyond Trump’s loyal base of supporters to many moderate and swing voters that could help determine the election, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research.
Voters also said they are increasingly alarmed by the situation at the U.S. border with Mexico, with many calling it their top voting issue even while living hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
“There is widespread dissatisfaction with Biden and the way things are going in the county today,” said Mark Baldassare, statewide survey director at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. “The focus on immigration and economy is what caught my attention the most.”
In early 2023, Trump appeared to be in serious danger of losing the Republican primary race, but he has since swept away all of his party rivals. Only Nikki Haley was still barely clinging on in the party’s race for Super Tuesday and Trump is now set to seal the nomination in upcoming votes over the next two weeks.
Still, Biden had a good day, too. He racked up hundreds of delegates as he cruises toward the Democratic nomination and he can take heart in Trump continuing to show weakness with some key voting segments, including college-educated voters and moderates that both sides may need to win.
By virtually wrapping up his party’s nomination in early March, far ahead of when he did it for the first time in 2016, Trump has eight months to engage directly with Biden.
He has also seen a spate of relatively positive news on the legal front. It now appears more and more likely that the criminal trials he faces over his role in subverting the 2020 election could be delayed until after the election.
