According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, former President Donald Trump continues to hold a lead over President Biden, who faced criticism for his performance in the first 2024 presidential debate. The poll reveals that Trump currently has an approval rate of 44%, while Biden trails with 40%.

The survey, conducted between July 1 and July 7, involved 9,424 adults, out of which 7,729 were registered voters. The pool of respondents was carefully weighted to represent various factors, including gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, and others. The margin of error for the poll stands at approximately 1.3 percentage points.

One significant finding of the survey was the dissatisfaction among the respondents regarding their available choices for the presidential election. Around 68% of the respondents expressed their general dissatisfaction with the options presented to them.

Notably, the report highlights a decline in the perception of Biden's mental sharpness. Only 24% of voters described him as "mentally sharp," reflecting a 6-point drop since January and a significant 22% decline since October 2020. In contrast, 58% of respondents believed Trump possessed mental sharpness.

Trump's advantage over Biden can be observed in three key issues: immigration, the economy, and foreign policy. The former president leads Biden by double digits on all three fronts. On immigration policy, Trump has a 17 point lead (52-35%), on economic policy, he enjoys a 14 point lead (54-40%), and on foreign policy, he maintains a 10 point advantage (49-39%). However, Biden did achieve an 8 point advantage on bipartisanship (40-32%) and a 4 point advantage on abortion issues (48-44%) over his predecessor.

Interestingly, third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. garnered 15% of the respondents in one of his biggest electoral shares according to a major poll yet.

This Pew Research poll is the first to be published since Biden's debated performance, which was widely criticized for various reasons, including confusion and occasional unintelligibility. The results indicate that the debate may have impacted the public's confidence in the current president.

As the 2024 presidential election draws closer, these poll findings shed light on the current sentiments and preferences of the American electorate. It remains to be seen how these poll numbers will fluctuate in the coming months, but for now, Trump maintains a lead over Biden in key areas.