Nikki Haley only Republican candidate who can defeat Biden: CNN poll

Washington: Indian American Nikki Haley is the only Republican presidential aspirant who can defeat President Joe Biden in the November 2024 polls, a CNN poll has revealed.

More than half a dozen Republican leaders, including two Indian Americans – Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy -- are seeking to be the party's presidential nominee. The race is currently being led by former president Donald Trump who is far ahead of others.

Releasing the results of its latest presidential polls, CNN said, "Hypothetical matchups... suggest there would be no clear leader should Biden face one of the other major GOP contenders, with one notable exception: Biden runs behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley." In an early gauge of a hypothetical Biden-Trump rematch, CNN's poll finds that registered voters are currently split between Trump (47 per cent) and Biden (46 per cent), with the demographic contours that defined the 2020 race still prominent.

Biden is about even with Ron DeSantis (47 per cent each), Mike Pence (46 per cent Pence, 44 per cent Biden), Tim Scott (46 per cent Scott, 44 per cent Biden), Vivek Ramaswamy (46 per cent Biden, 45 per cent Ramaswamy), and Chris Christie (44 per cent Christie, 42 per cent Biden).

"Haley stands as the only GOP candidate to hold a lead over Biden, with 49 per cent to Biden's 43 per cent in a hypothetical match between the two," CNN reported.

That difference is driven at least in part by a broader support for Haley than for other Republicans among White voters with college degrees. She holds 51 per cent of that group, compared to 48 per cent or less for other Republicans tested in the poll, the news channel said.

The Haley campaign welcomed the polls saying, "This poll confirms what many Democrats and Republicans are saying: Democrats are terrified of running against Nikki Haley." "When you ask President Joe Biden who they're really worried about, you'll hear one name. 'If they nominate Nikki Haley, we're in trouble," said a senior Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign.

The Hill said those results are good news for Haley, a former United Nations ambassador under President Trump who is looking to build on a strong performance in the first GOP presidential debate late last month to challenge her former boss for the Republican nomination.