Trump has polling lead on Biden as general election effectively starts

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have won their respective primaries so far, which means it will be smooth sailing for both of them to get their respective parties' nominations for the general election in 2024.

A new Ipsos/Reuters poll showed that Trump is leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup by six points, 40% to 34%.

When potential third-party candidates are added in, Trump maintains his six-point lead: Trump gets 36%, Biden 30%, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 8%.

A previous poll in early January showed Trump and Biden tied.

The poll dovetails with the newest Harvard Harris poll in which Trump leads by seven points, 48% to Biden's 41%.

Harvard Harris looked at a full third-party matchup with Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party Jill Stein and found that Trump's lead was even greater in that scenario, 42% to 31%.